+ WATER BIRDS 
Puffin breeds extensively on the Farallone Islands and, 
to a limited extent, on Santa Barbara and San Clementi 
and Point Reyes Islands. Its single egg is laid in 
the barest semblance of a nest at the end of a burrow, 
or in a crevice among the rocks, or often under the 
shelter of a boulder. Wherever the nest may be it is 
always valiantly defended, and 
only in the rare absence of 
both parents will the collec- 
tor rob it. The only child 
receives all the atten- 
tion proverbially given to 
only children, for the nest is 
never left unguarded and the par- 
ents make a fierce fight if molested. 
The young puffin is an odd- She 
12. TUFTED PUFFIN. ‘Ye’ 
looking baby, for it inherits c 454 puppy enjoys a bone.” Pt 
a } 
the family bill. Otherwise 
it looks like a gray rat crouched at the entrance to 
its home run. Both adults and young are noisy, con- 
stantly growling from their burrows, and croaking 
when outside; this with their odd bill, white face- 
mask, and drooping yellow  ear-tufts, makes them 
eerie creatures of the sea. Their food consists of fish, 
mollusks, and crustacea, which they obtain by diving, 
using both wings and feet to propel themselves under 
water. This top-heavy bird is exceedingly awkward on 
land, and especially so when alighting with a fish in its 
beak, as with a swinging motion it drops its fect very 
wide apart. In feeding, the parent holds the fish or 
