266 THE FOWLER IN IRELAND. 



" bitten " out and scampers forth, the Puffin closely 

 following. The bird then stands a conqueror at the 

 entrance to the nest, and rests after his trouble of 

 " evicting," but a very snug, warm retreat has he 

 now obtained. Puffins may, however, often be seen 

 burrowing of their own accord in the soft ground. 

 If a snare be placed at the mouth of the hole, a 

 Puffin will slowly and cautiously pull it on one side 

 ere attempting to enter. They often come to blows 

 among themselves when quarrelling about their old 

 nests, ending in a furious fight. I have seen them 

 roll down a distance of a hundred feet in each 

 other's clutch, biting viciously all the time. 



They lay an egg of a dirty white colour, to which 

 they are much attached. I have often seen them 

 follow their pilfered egg to the mouth of the nest 

 and endeavour to hook it back with the bill. No- 

 thing is more amusing than to see their grotesque 

 manoeuvres when pairing. They stand about a 

 yard apart, beckoning and bowing their heads, 

 getting nearer by degrees to each other, when they 

 finally rub their bills together, and if the " match " 

 is made they run into the ready-prepared nest. 

 Puffins will, when nesting, fly within a few yards of 

 an intruder, looking most inquisitively into his face 

 out of the corner of the eye. They are very regular 

 in their habits, rising en masse from their shelters at 

 six o'clock every evening, and remaining in view r on 

 the cliffs for about an hour later. 



So accurate are they to time, that when the light- 

 house at the Skelligs was building, in 1826, the work- 

 men used to cease their labour and lay down their 

 tools on the rising of the Puffin at the clay's end. 



