PUFFIN— CRESTED AND H0RNB1LLED AUKS 285 



In the receptacle formed by this skin are carried the small fishes brought home by 

 the old birds for the support of their young. When a puffin is returning laden, 

 the extremities of four or five fishes may project from each corner of the beak, 

 giving to the bird the appearance of possessing a moustache. Puffins generally 

 associate in vast flocks, which extend over wide stretches of rocky shores and 

 islets, their gleaming white breasts giving the breeding-places the appearance of 

 being covered with a snowy veil. On the east side of the Atlantic puffins breed so 

 far south as the mouth of the Tagus ; and in winter they visit the Mediterranean. 

 On the western side the southernmost breeding-places are in Newfoundland, and 

 winter stragglers reach the coast of New England. 



Crested and With two very remarkable auks of small size this brief account 



Hombiiied Auks. f the birds of the Arctic may be brought to a close. The first of 

 these is the crested auk (Simorhynchus cristatellus) of the North Pacific, easily 

 recognised by the tuft of plumes curling over the forehead and the white bar on 

 the ear-coverts. The second is the rhinoceros-billed auk (CerorhyncJia monocerata) 

 of the shores of north-western America and northern Asia. In summer the beak 

 develops a prominent horny knob between the nostrils, which disappears in winter, 

 although the white plumes on each side of the head persist. 



