TUFTED PUFFIN 87 



On one occasion a puffin was stunned by an accurately aimed gaff hook and 

 was hauled aboard. Upon recovering consciousness it was held by the feet 

 and fed herring until the exasperated boatman terminated its career by wring- 

 ing its neck. This is perhaps an extreme case, but it serves to illustrate the 

 boldness of the species and to furnish a reason for the steady increase in num- 

 bers which the natives have observed during the past 20 years. 



Behavior. The tufted puffin, with its heavy body and small wings, 

 experiences considerable difficulty in rising from the water in calm 

 weather or with the wind behind it; I have often seen it make futile 

 attempts to do so, flapping along the surface, dropping into the water 

 and trying again and again. It is equally incapable of rising from 

 the land and generally prefers to launch into the air from a cliff or 

 steep hillside, where it glides downward for several feet before gain- 

 ing headway enough to fly. But, when once under way its flight is 

 strong, direct, and well sustained. It makes long flights to and from 

 its feeding grounds and on migrations. It usually flies well up in 

 the air, but it can not rise abruptly or change its course suddenly; it 

 usually circles about in long curves, rising gradually. 



It is a good diver, swimming below the surface with both wings 

 and feet in use, but it does not like to dive and prefers to escape by 

 some other method, if possible. It often dives directly out of the 

 air into the water or plunges below the surface as soon as it alights, 

 which is a rather clumsy performance. It is quite active on land, 

 walking about in a lively manner or standing erect on its toes. Its 

 attitude is one of ludicrous solemnity, suggestive of its common name, 

 "sea parrot." It is exceedingly tough and hard to kill, carrying off 

 a lot of heavy shot; when wounded, it is useless to pursue it. Its 

 body is so solid and muscular that the means ordinarily used for kill- 

 ing birds hardly proves effective; one particularly tough individual 

 which, for three times in succession, I supposed I had killed, finally 

 escaped. 



This puffin, like most sea birds, is a sociable species on its breed- 

 ing grounds, where it seems to live on good terms with its neighbors. 

 It occasionally borrows a little nesting material from the gulls, but 

 it never disturbs the eggs of other species. Mr. Chester Barlow 

 (18940) writes of finding a dead Cassins' auklet and its egg in a 

 burrow occupied by an incubating tufted puffin, from which he in- 

 ferred that the puffin had killed the auklet and taken possession of its 

 home. Mr. Milton S. Ray (1904) cites the following incident: 



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 "bunny's" fur. 



The young puffins are very quarrelsome among themselves and are 

 particularly aggressive toward human beings, but their weapons are 

 not formidable. The old birds, however, are both vicious and formi- 



