GGS AND EGG-COLLECTING. 69 



it is situated in the immediate neighbourhood of the sea, 

 and should the original owner or excavator be bold enough 

 to dispute the right of proprietorship, this remarkable bird 

 is not at all indisposed to do battle for possession of the 

 situation her fancy has selected as a desirable place in 

 which to carry out the duties imposed by Nature's law for 

 the perpetuation of the species. 



In the absence of a suitable cranny or rift in the rock, 

 or the accommodation usually afforded by the presence of 

 rabbits, the bird will set to work and excavate a hole some- 

 times as much as three feet deep, sticking to her task with 

 such assiduity as often to endanger her safety from capture. 



It seems, however, that she takes great care that what- 

 ever place is adopted for her nest it shall not be reached 

 by even the highest tide. The nest of the Puffin is found 

 in great numbers in the Isle of Wight, Puffin Island, 

 Scilly Islands, Isle of Anglesea, and many islands on the 

 coast of Scotland. The parent bird cannot be induced to 

 leave her nest except by force, sitting very closely, and 

 determinedly defending it with her singularly constructed 

 and formidable beak, with which she bites most severely. 



THE RING OUZEL. 



THE mountainous districts of the North of England and 

 Scotland are the favourite nesting-places of this bird, 

 which seems most at home in lonely secluded districts. 

 It has often struck me that it is to this bird alone 

 the mountain ash owes its existence high up in nearly 

 every little mountain valley where no other tree is to 

 be seen, the King Ouzel eating the berries and dropping 

 the seed in all sorts of out-of-the-way nooks and corners. 



