^°!q^'^'] Kay, Fortnight on the Faralloties. 429 



distinguishable in the semi-dark burrows. Some birds took flight 

 on our approach, while others left the egg and crawled further 

 back in the tunnel, offering no resistance ; but the majority 

 refused to stir and sat quiet and motionless, although that keen- 

 edged tool, their beak, was ever active, and not until I attempted 

 to reach an egg did I fully appreciate its formidableness. If a 

 stick or other object is thrust within its reach it hangs on with the 

 tenacity of a bulldog, only letting go when its mouth is pried 

 open. On West End, one day, I beheld two puffins so vigorously 

 battling that they were oblivious to my presence ; and Mr. Cane 

 informed me that he once saw two birds begin fighting in the air, 

 above the light tower, and they continued to fight while descend- 

 ing, and even after they reached the water. 



On one occasion I chased a rabbit to a burrow among the 

 rocks, but the animal had scarcely entered when out it quickly 

 jumped. I looked in and there, sentinel-like, stood the puffin 

 on guard with a bill full of 'bunnie's' fur. 



The statement that "they are among the most noisy of the sea 

 birds, always screaming while out on the rocks and constantly 

 growling while in their burrows," ^ I consider erroneous as we 

 found the puffin a very quiet bird. Although the ' sea parrot,' as 

 this species is also called, is a good flier and can rise from the 

 ground with ease, yet when the heavy winds were blowing I 

 noticed scores crouching flat on the rocks. On foot this bird is 

 about as ungainly as most of its tribe and has a ridiculous strad- 

 dling gait. 



2. Ptychoramphus aleuticus. Cassin's Auklet. 



One might visit the Farallones in the daytime and unless he 

 investigated their nesting haunts or hiding places, would never 

 know that either the trim, white-breasted auklet or the sooty swal- 

 low-like petrels existed on the islands. The nest of the auklet 

 was the first nest we found, as they were common about Stone 

 House, whence we sallied forth on our initial trip, as they were 

 almost everywhere. The single white tggi with a faint greenish 



1 Nests and Eggs of North American Birds, p. 9. 



