-NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. H 



notes regarding them," the author, Mr. Walter E. Bryant, says: "I have carefully 

 measured fifty Puffin's eggs, which average 70.2x48.4 mm.* The individual propor- 

 tions of eight eggs, showing the greatest and smallest extremes of both diameters, 

 are 81x50, 77x48, 74x50, 71.5x51, 71x46, 65.5x45, 64x50, 63.5x50 inm."f 



13. PUFFIN". Fratercula arctica (Linn.) Geog. Dist. Coasts and islands of 

 the North Atlantic. Breeding on the North American coast from the Bay of Pundy 

 northward, south in winter to Long Island, and casually farther. 



The Common Puffin is found exclusively in the waters of the Atlantic, breeding 

 on the eastern coast of North America from Maine to Greenland. In Europe it 

 breeds from Great Britain to the northern coast of Norway. The nest is made in a 

 burrow in the earth, dug by the birds. Far north thousands breed in the fissures of 

 rocky cliffs and in the sides of bluffs; tr/o birds are often found sitting, each on its 

 egg, in the same burrow. The eg^s are deposited late in June and in July. Mr. 

 Frazar found these birds abundant on the coast of Labrador. An island of two or 

 three hundred acres in extent was covered wir.i Puffin burrows; about a thousand 

 nests examined contained one egg each, while in a dozen others there were but two 

 eggs to a nest. The greater part of these were plain, dull white; others were more 

 or less thickly spotted with obscure chocolate and reddish brown markings; a num- 

 ber had distinct brown spots, blotches and tracings, such as are seen in the Murre 

 eggs. \ The sizes range from 2.25 to 2.85 in length by 1.45 to 1.85 in breadth. 



13. LARGE-BILLED PUFFIN. Fratercula arctica glacialis (Temm.) Geog. 

 Dist. Coasts and islands of the Arctic Ocean, from Spitzbergen to Baffin's Bay. 



This bird, a subspecies, is like the last, but greater in size, the bill larger and 

 differently shaped. It breeds in the far north, on the islands of Baffin's Bay and 

 along the coast of Greenland nesting in the same manner as arctica. The eggs are 

 not distinguishable. According to Mr. Ridgway they average larger than F. arctica.^ 



14. HORNED PUFFIN. Fratercula corniculata (Naum.) Geog. Dist. Coasts 

 and islands of the North Pacific, from Kurile Islands to Sitka. 



The Horned Puffin breeds on the bleak rocky islands of the polar seas. It is 

 found along the coast of Alaska, is common in the Northern Pacific Ocean and on 

 nearly all the islands of Bering Sea. Mr. Nelson states that this bird breeds 

 abundantly on the Near Islands, but is not resident there. They are resident from 

 the Aleutian chain south, but are summer residents thence north. They are equally 

 abundant along both shores of Bering Sea, and south they are found on the coast 

 of California and that of Japan. They also occur on the Commander Islands. 

 Thousands of them breed on every rocky island, and whenever a vessel nears land 

 in that region the clumsy form of the Puffin soon becomes a familiar sight. It takes 

 its name from the slender, upright horns on the upper eye-lids. The term "horns," 

 however, is regarded by some as misleading. In the living bird the horns are said to 

 be only soft, flexible caruncles or wattles. The nest-holes of this species are in the 

 deep, narrow interstices of rocks, seldom within the reach of a man's arm, and, except 

 in the absence of the bird, it is hazardous to attempt to rob the nest. Like eke Tufted 

 Puffin, Lunda cirrJiata, it often inflicts a severe wound with its powerful bilL The 



* 2.76x1.90 inches. 



1 3.19x1.97, 3.03x1.89, 2.91x1.97, 2.81x2.01, 2.79x1.81, 2.58x1.77, 2.56x1.97, 2.50x1.97 



$ Ornithologist and Oologlst. Vol. XII, pp. 2-3. 



Manual North American Birds, p. 11. 



