290 THE BIRDS 



yellow skin at the angle of the mouth. This remarkable sheath, 

 in conjunction with the bird's white cheeks, black cap and 

 throat circlet, white breast, black back, and orange-coloured legs 

 and feet, gives the Puffin the most peculiar appearance. The 

 sheath is shed with the annual moult, and the rosette turns from 

 yellow to a pale reddish hue. The Tufted Puffin (Lunda cirrhata), 

 which ranges from Japan to South California, is further adorned 

 with two long tufts of straw-coloured feathers overhanging the 

 eyes when clad in his nuptial garb, the beak red and yellow, the 

 rosette red, while the plumage is sooty above and greyish below. 

 In the Pacific the family is represented by the large Horned Puffin 

 (Fratercula corniculata), distinguished by the long, horny processes 

 projecting from the eyelids. These horns are present in all species 

 of Puffin, though not in such a marked degree. Like all the Auk 

 tribe, Puffins are expert swimmers and divers, and can swim for 

 a considerable time beneath the water. 



At one time grouped with the divers and grebes, which they 

 resemble in the backward position of the legs, the Auks are now 

 included in the same order as the plovers, sandpipers, sheath-bills, 

 eand-grouse, coursers, jacamas, stone-curlews, gulls, terns and 

 skuas, and the pigeon tribe. 



The Gulls, Skuas, Skimmers and Terns belong to the family 

 Laridce. Although differing in many ways one from another, all 

 the members of the family agree in having the three front toes 

 connected entirely or partially by a web, and there are certain 

 anatomical details common to all. 



The Gulls (sub-family Larince) are essentially marine birds, 

 though some species nest inland, and ascend the rivers in the winter 

 months. They have a very wide distribution, different species 

 being found in almost all parts of the world. Gregarious and roving 

 in their habits, the Gulls are equally at home on the wing or on 

 the water. Their wings are strong, and they are capable of long 

 sustained flight. In their natural elements they are exceedingly 

 graceful, and on land they walk well but with a curious straddling 

 gait. 



The British species include the Herring Gull (L. argentatus), 

 the Black-headed Gull (L. ridtbundus), the Lesser Black-headed 

 Gull (L; fuscus), the Greater Black-backed Gull (L. marinus), and 

 the Kittiwake (Bissa tridactyla}. The Common Gull (L. canus), 



