PLATE III 

 PUFFIN. Fratercula arctica 



June 2$th, 1897. On the north-west side of the island of Unst, one of the 

 Shetland group, there is one of the most picturesque colonies of Puffins to 

 be found in our islands. The island itself is fringed with huge cliffs covered 

 with innumerable grassy ledges, especially adapted for Puffins, and there are 

 great piles of ddbris at the base of these cliffs which shelter hundreds of 

 these quaint-looking little birds. This Plate represents some of the curious 

 stacks, detached from the main island, which are thronged with sea-birds, of 

 which, perhaps, the Puffin is the most numerous, though the Kittiwakes are 

 very nearly as plentiful. 



In the foreground are some Puffins sunning themselves on a rock, 

 while the far cliff is white with Kittiwakes, and many Guillemots and Razorbills 

 among them. The little white patch at the summit of the cliff which is 

 280 feet high is a colony of thirteen pairs of Fulmar Petrels under a huge 

 mass of overhanging rock. I succeeded in getting right down among them, 

 but had great difficulty in setting up my camera, as it was impossible to 

 use a rope at all. 



Here, for the first time, I found several nests of the Puffin on ledges 

 under overhanging rocks, where not only the egg but the whole nest was 

 quite visible many yards off. 



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