F R A T E R C U L A. 



535 



small fry, because they are observed to be very active 

 in those turbulent states of the water near the shore, 

 in which the fry lose command of themselves, and 

 are easily captured. Their principal food, however, 

 seems to be the smaller Crustacea and shelled rnollusca, 

 and the great strength of their bill enables them rea- 

 dily to bruise the former, and break the shells of the 

 latter. In respect of their feeding, they probably 

 form one extreme of the diving birds, being less offi- 

 cious than any of the others, but having the bill better 

 adapted to act as a bruising instrument than any other 

 sea birds whatever. They use the b'd 1 , and that very 

 powerfully, in their own defence ; but except in the 

 breaking up of that small food on which they subsist, it 

 does not appear that they use it for any purpose of attack. 



Common Puffin. 



Puffins are abundantly found in all the northern 

 seas of Europe, Asia, and America, and there are 

 many of them, during the summer at least, on the 

 shores of Spitzbergen ; but of course they retire from 

 those northern haunts during the winter; and indeed 

 at this season they quit the neighbourhood of their 

 nesting places, and become discursive over the sea, 

 as is the case with all those aquatic birds which resort 

 in great numbers to particular spots of the coast during 

 the breeding season. In their southern progress they 

 have been found about Belleisle, in the Gulf of Gas- 

 cony. As they take flight with great difficulty, they 

 are sometimes run down by boats, or driven ashore, 

 when suddenly caught in a gust of wind ; but they 

 can fly very well when they get on the wing. They 

 appear in many parts of our rocky coasts about the 

 middle of April, and commence breeding towards the 

 middle of May. On the Dover cliffs, and other such 

 places, they deposit their single white egg in the 

 holes and crevices ; but in other situations they bur- 

 row like rabbits if the soil is light, or more frequently 

 take possession of a rabbit's hole, and lay their egg 

 some feet under ground. On St. Margaret's island, 

 oft' St. David's, the fishermen put their hands into the 

 holes, and the puffins seize them so obstinately, that 

 they allow themselves to be drawn out. The Orca- 

 dians drag them out with a stick, to the end of which 

 is attached an iron hook. The flesh of the old bird 

 is both rank and fishy, but the young ones, which are 

 seized before they are quite fledged, when pickled 

 and preserved with spices, are much relished by 

 some, and are allowed to be eaten in Roman Catholic 

 countries during Lent. In some places they are taken 

 with ferrets. The males, as well as females, perform 

 the office of sitting, relieving each other when they 

 go to feed. The young are hatched in the beginning 



of July, and the re -migration of the species takes place 

 about the middle of August, when none remain behind, 

 except the unfledged young of the latter hatches. In 

 one part of Akaroe, a small island oft' Iceland, puffins 

 breed in vast numbers, forming holes in the mould 

 three or four feet beneath the surface. 



In the Faroe islands puffins are also very numer- 

 ous ; and the young, and indeed the old birds, are 

 eagerly sought after as articles of food ; in the cap- 

 ture of these birds, and the other nestlers in the rocks, 

 the Faroese undergo the greatest hardships, and ex- 

 pose themselves to the most imminent dangers. The 

 following account of their labours in this way, chiefly 

 drawn up by Sir George Mackenzie, who visited 

 these islands in 1812, cannot fail to be read with 

 interest. " The fowlers," says Sir George, ".are pro- 

 vided with long poles, to the ends of which are fas- 

 tened small rope nets. With this instrument they 

 generally display great dexterity in casting it over 

 the birds, which invariably make towards the water 

 when disturbed. It is this anxiety of the birds to 

 seek the element in which tLeir security is to be 

 found, which gives certainty to the exertions of the 

 fowler. The birds push their heads through the 

 meshes of the net, which, being dexterously inverted, 

 keeps them suspended by the neck. When a fowling 

 expedition is undertaken, two men fasten themselves 

 to a rope, so that there may be eight or ten fathoms 

 of it between them. One assists the other to ascend 

 the rope by means of a pole, at the end of which is a 

 hook, which is fastened to the band of the climber's 

 breeches, or to a rope tied round his waist, and thus 

 he is pushed up ; but the most common method is for 

 the climber to seat himself on a board fastened to the 

 end of the pole. They often ascend frightful clift's 

 without any assistance. When the first has got to a 

 place where he has some footing, he helps the other 

 up by means of the rope to which they are both fast- 

 ened. When they have gained the elevation where 

 the birds are pretty numerous, they assist each other 

 from cliff to cliff. It sometimes happens that one of 

 them falls and 'pulls the other after him, when both 

 are precipitated into the sea, or dashed to pieces on 

 the projecting rocks. When the rocks are so high 

 and smooth as to render it impossible for the fowlers 

 to ascend, they are let down by means of a strong 

 rope from above. To prevent the rope from being 

 cut, a piece of wood is placed at the verge of the 

 precipice. By means of a small line the fowler makes 

 signals to those above,- and they let him down or pull 

 him up accordingly. When he reaches a shelf of the 

 rock where the birds have their nests, he unties him- 

 self, and proceeds to take them. Sometimes he places 

 himself on a projecting rock, and, using his net with 

 great adroitness, he catches the birds as they fly past 

 him, and this they call veining. This mode of catch- 

 ing birds is even practised while the fowlers are sus- 

 pended. When a projection of the rock is between 

 the fowler and the place where the birds are, he 

 swings himself from the rock so far that he turns 

 round the projection. In this, great address and 

 courage are requisite, as well as in swinging under a 

 projection into a cavern. When he cannot with the 

 help of his pole swing far enough, he lets down a 

 line to people stationed in a boat below, who swing 

 him by means of it as far as is necessary to enable 

 him to gain a safe place to stand upon. Besides 

 being exposed to the risk of the rope breaking, the 

 fowler is frequently in danger of being crushed by 



