THE PUFFIN. 515 



more, is thicker, and has the nostrils more covered, is 16 to 

 19 inches long, brownish-black above, the head and throat 

 being browner; under parts, from throat in summer, from 

 bill in winter, and in case' of young, white. This species 

 breeds in myriads on the rocky islands of Labrador and 

 northward, and used to breed as far south as Nova Scotia. 

 It sits almost up on end like a bottle, on a single egg which 

 is laid on the bare rock. The egg, 3. 00-3.50 x 1.96-2.12, and 

 quite pyriform in shape, varies from white to dark green, 

 and though sometimes plain, is generally blotched and 

 streaked in every way with dark colors. This species is 

 not nearly so common as the next on the New England 

 coast in winter, and is also on the Pacific Coast. 



The Thick-billed or Brunnich's Guillemot (L. arra) is 

 similar in form, color, habit and distribution to the former, 

 but is always to be distinguished by its thick bill. It is very 

 much more common than the former species on the New 

 England coast in winter. 



THE PUFFIN. 



One of the oddest birds of the sea is the Puffin (Prater- 

 cula arcticd), or Noddy; Sea Parrot, as it is called by the 

 Nova Scotians. About 13.50 in length, short-legged, web- 

 footed, and with a curiously formed bill, flatly compressed, 

 it is blackish above and white underneath, the black above 

 extending around the short neck like a collar, and the white 

 on the cheeks continuing in a narrow line around the back 

 of the head, and becoming dusky at the base of the lower 

 mandible. The tip of the bill is red, streaked with yel- 

 low and dusky, and the base is blue, margined with red. 

 The callous at the corner of the mouth is yellow; the eye- 

 lids are pink, with blue appendages; the feet red. It bred 

 formerly in abundance on some of the Mud Islands, one of 



