WATER-FOWL. 



591 



upon its back, and with bill and claws thus 

 burrows inward, till it has dug a hole with se- 

 veral windings and turnings, from eight to ten 

 feet deep. It particularly seeks to (tig under 

 a stone, where it expects the greatest securi- 

 ty. In this fortified retreat it lays one egg ; 

 which, though the bird be not much bigger 

 thau a pigeon, is of the size of a hen's. 



When the young one is excluded, the pa- 

 rent's industry and courage is incredible. 

 Few birds or beasts will venture to attack 

 them in their retreats. When the great sea- 

 raven, as Jacobson informs us, comes to take 

 away their young, the puffins boldly oppose 

 him. Their meeting affords a most singular 

 combat. As soon as the raven approaches, 

 the puifin catches him under the throat with 

 its beak, and sticks its claws into his breast, 

 which makes the raven, with a loud scream- 

 ing, attempt to get away ; but the little bird 

 still holds fast to the invader, nor lets him go 

 till they both come to the sea, where they 

 drop down together, and the raven is drown- 

 ed ; yet the raven is but too often successful ; 

 and, invading the puffin at the bottom of its 

 hole, devours both the parent and its family. 



But were a punishment to be inflicted for 

 immorality in irrational animals, the puffin is 

 justly a sufferer from invasion, as it is often 

 itself one of the most terrible invaders. Near 

 the isle of Anglesey, in an islet called Pries- 

 holm, their flocks may be compared, for mul- 

 titude, to swarms of bees. In another islet, 

 called the Calf of Man, a bird of this kind, but 

 of a different species, is seen in great abun- 

 dance. In both places, numbers of rabbits 

 are found to breed ; but the puffin, unwilling 

 to be at the trouble of making a hole, when 

 there is one ready made, disposesses the rab- 

 bits, and it is not unlikely destroys their 

 young. It is in these unjustly acquired re- 

 treats that the young puffins are found in 

 great numbers, and become a very valuable 

 acquisition to the natives of the place. The 

 old ones (I am now speaking of the Manks 

 puffin) early in the morning, at break of day, 

 leave their nests and young, and even the is- 

 land, nor do they return till night-fall. All 

 this time they are diligently employed in fish- | 

 ing for their young; so that their retreats on 

 land, which in the morning were loud and 

 clamorous, are now still and quiet, with not 



a wing stirring till the approach of dusk, when 

 their screams once more announce their re- 

 turn. Whatever fish, or other food, they have 

 procured in the day, by night begins to suf- 

 fer a kind of half digestion, and is reduced to 

 an oily matter, which is ejected from the sto- 

 mach of the old ones into the mouth of the 

 young. By this they are nourished, and be- 

 come fat to an amazing degree. When they 

 are arrived to their full growth, they who are 

 entrusted by the lord of the island, draw them 

 from their holes ; and. that they may more 

 readily keep an account of the number they 

 take, cut off one foot as a token. Their flesh 

 is said to be excessively rank, as they feed 

 upon fish, especially sprats, and sea-weed; 

 however, when they are pickled and pre- 

 served with spices, they are admired by those 

 who are fond of high eating. We are told, 

 that formerly their flesh was allowed by the 

 church on Lenten days. They were, at that 

 time, also taken by ferrets, as we do rabbits. 

 At present, they are either dug out, or drawn 

 out, from their burrows, with an hooked stick. 

 They bite extremely hard, and keep such 

 fast hold of whatsoever they seize upon, as 

 not to be easily disengaged. Their noise, 

 when taken, is very disagreeable, being like 

 the efforts of a dumb person attempting to 

 speak. 



The constant depredation which these birds 

 annually suffer, does not in the least seem to 

 intimidate them, or drive them away ; on the 

 contrary, as the people say, the nest must be 

 robbed, or the old ones will breed there no 

 longer. All birds of this kind lay but one egg; 

 yet if that be taken away, they will lay ano- 

 ther, and so on to a third ; which srems to 

 imply, that robbing their nests does not much 

 intimidate them from laying again. Those, 

 however, whose nests have been thus destroy- 

 ed, are often too late in bringing up their 

 young; who, if they be not fledged and pre- 

 pared for migration when all the rest depart, 

 are left at land to shift for themselves. In 

 August the whole tribe is seen to take leave 

 of their summer residence ; nor are they ob- 

 served any more till the return of the ensu- 

 ing spring. It is probable that they sail away 

 to more southern regions, as our mariners fre- 

 quently see myriads of water-fowl upon their 

 return, and steering usually to the north. In- 



