34 BLACK-AND-WHITE BIRDS 



east side of England restricted to the Flamborough 

 cliffs and the Fame Islands. 



If the squat, rotund form of the Puffin fail to 

 enable the observer to identify it, a glance at its bill 

 will suffice. The latter is a massive, gaudy structure, 

 roughly triangular, continuing the outline of the 

 head and chin in a manner suggestive of a Parrot. 

 A round - eyed, apparently spectacled creature, it 

 stands upright, and watches the observer with a 

 ludicrous air of mild surprise. Puffins breed in 

 colonies, occupying burrows, generally excavated by 

 themselves in the turfy cap of some rocky headland 

 or island. Like the Guillemots and Razorbills, they 

 have the habit of lining the cliff-ledges, their dark 

 backs turned landwards and their white breasts 

 towards the sea. But in any Puffin colony there is 

 a constant movement throughout the day of birds 

 coming up from the sea on short, violently beating 

 wings, their bright-red legs tucked up against 

 their white stomachs, and in their bills three or 

 four small shining fish held crosswise. As they 

 go they emit a low, guttural sound, which may be 

 imitated by laughing low in the throat with the 

 lips closed. If disturbed in their burrows they 

 give vent to a low growl. Like Guillemots and 

 Razorbills, Puffins have the habit of sitting in the 

 water in large companies at the foot of a cliff, 

 and diving for fish, which they pursue under water 

 with a fin-like action of their wings. After the 

 breeding season they take to the open sea. 



RAZORBILL 17 inches ; massive black bill like razor- 

 head, crossed by thin white line in centre ; legs and 

 feet blackish-brown. 



