.590 



A HISTORY OF 



The first of this smaller tribe is the Great 

 Northern Diver, which is nearly the size of a 

 goose: it is beautifully variegated all over 

 with many stripes, and differs from the pen- 

 guin, in being much slenderer, and more ele- 

 gantly formed. The Gray Speckled Diver 

 does not exceed the size of a Muscovy Duck ; 

 and, except in size, greatly resembles the for- 

 mer. The Auk, which breeds on the islands 

 of St. Kilda, and chiefly differs from the pen- 

 guin in size and colour, is smaller than a 

 duck; and the whole of the breast and belly, 

 as far as the middle of the throat, is white. 

 The Guillemot is about the same size; it dif- 

 fers from the auk, in having a longer, a slen- 

 derer, and a straighter bill. The Scarlet- 

 Throated Diver may be distinguished by its 

 name; and the Puffin, or Coulterneb, is one 

 of the most remarkable birds we know. 



Words cannot easily describe the form of 

 the bill of the puffin, which differs so greatly 

 from that of any other bird. Those who have 

 seen the coulter of a plough, may form some 

 idea of the beak of this odd-looking animal. 

 The bill is flat; but, very different from that 

 of a duck, its edge is upwards: it is of a tri- 

 angular figure, and ending in a sharp point, 

 the upper chap bent a little downward, where 

 it is joined to the head; and a certain cal- 

 lous substance encompassing its base, as in 

 parrots. It is of two colours; ash-coloured 

 near the base, and red towards the point. It 

 has three furrows or grooves impressed in it; 

 one in the livid part, two in the red. The 

 eyes are fenced with a protuberant skin, of a 

 livid colour; and they are gray or ash- 

 coloured. These are marks sufficient to dis- 

 tinguish this bird by; but its value to those 

 in whose vicinity it breeds, renders it still 

 more an object of curiosity. 



The puffin, like all the rest of this kind, has 

 its legs thrown so far back, that it can hard- 

 ly move without tumbling. This makes it 

 rise with difficulty, and subject to many falls 

 before it gets upon the wing: but as it is a 

 small bird, not much bigger than a pigeon, 

 when it once rises, it can continue its flight 

 with great celerity. 



Both this and all the former build no nest: 

 but lay their eggs either in the crevices of 

 rocks, or in holes under ground near the shore. 

 They chiefly choose the latter situation ; for 



the puffin, the auk, the guillemot, and the rest, 

 cannot easily rise to the nest when in a lofty 

 situation. Many are the attempts these birds 

 are seen to make to fly up to those nests 

 which are so high above the surface. In ren- 

 dering them inaccessible to mankind, they of- 

 ten render them almost inaccessible to them- 

 selves. They are frequently obliged to make 

 three or four efforts, before they can come at 

 the place of incubation. For this reason, the 

 auk and guillemot, when they have once laid 

 their single egg, which is extremely large for 

 the size, seldom forsake it until it is excluded. 

 The male, who is better furnished for flight, 

 feeds the female during this interval; and so 

 bare is the place where she sits, that the egg 

 would often roll down from the rock, did not 

 the body of the bird support it. 



But the puffin seldom chooses these inac- 

 cessible and troublesome heights for its situa- 

 tion. Relying on its courage and the strength 

 of its bill, with which it bites most terribly, 

 it either makes or finds a hole in the ground, 

 where to lay and bring forth its young. All 

 the winter these birds, like the rest, are ab- 

 sent; visiting regions toe remote for disco- 

 very. At the latter end of March, or the 

 beginning of April, come over a troop of their 

 spies or harbingers, that stay two or three 

 days, as it were to view and search out for 

 their former situations, and see whether all 

 be well. This done, they once more depart; 

 and, about the beginning of May, return again 

 with the whole army of their companions. 

 But if the season happens to be stormy and 

 tempestuous, and the sea troubled, the un- 

 fortunate voyagers undergo incredible hard- 

 ships ; and they are found, by hundreds, cast 

 away upon the shores, lean and perished with 

 famine.* It is most probable, therefore, that 

 this voyage is performed more on the water 

 than in the air; and as they cannot fish in 

 stormy weather, their strength is exhausted 

 before they can arrive at their wished-for 

 harbour. 



The puffin, when it prepares for breeding, 

 which always happens a few days after its ar- 

 rival, begins to scrape up a hole in the ground 

 not far from the shore, and when it has some 

 way penetrated the earth, it then throws itself 



a Willoughby's Ornith. p. 326. 



