178 BIRD STUDIES WITH A CAMERA 



was taken of an opening beneath a ledge, but gen- 

 erally the bird excavated a hole, 92 about four inches 

 in diameter and three or four feet in length, at the 

 end of which we found the nest of grasses and feath- 



Puffin's nest and egg at the end of excavated burrow. 



ers, with its single elliptical white egg 93 and sitting 

 bird, or a sooty, down-covered nestling. 94 



Woe to the unsuspecting person who thrusts his 

 hand into the jaw, one might say, of an incubating 

 Puffin. Nature has not only provided the bird with 

 an uncommonly powerful and efficient pair of man- 

 dibles, but also with a disposition which prompts it 

 to use them to the best advantage. Never have I 

 seen anything in the shape of a bird so diabolically 

 vicious as a Puffin. An individual which we cap- 

 tured alive and attempted to study in our work- 

 room, proved altogether too fierce a creature to have 



