Puffin Island 



thousands of puffins, but there were now but few, 

 some standing at the edge of the cliff, others sitting 

 on the sea at its foot. We learned, however, that 

 the birds arrived " in thousands " two days after our 

 present visit that is, on the I2th of June. 



We observed that an understanding had, to some 

 extent, been come to between the puffins and the 

 gulls as to their respective spheres of occupation. 

 The puffins occupied a stretch of burrowed turf on 

 the west slope, and on the cliffs below them were 

 their fellow-auks, the guillemots and razorbills, with 

 whom the puffins were wont to assemble when 

 standing on the cliffs. The gulls, however, are 

 tenants in chief on the island, and, besides being 

 found on the cliffs all round the island, lay their 

 nests freely on the turf among the puffin burrows. 

 Their principal quarters are on the ledges of the east 

 cliffs, where, besides herring and lesser black-backed 

 gulls, is a colony of kittiwakes. 



We had visited this " puffinry," as my youthful 

 colleague persisted in calling it, late in July of the 

 previous year, when the scene was more animated 

 than on the present occasion. Then some thousands 

 of puffins were present, lines of hundreds of them 

 being marshalled on the cliffs, whilst a continuous 

 stream of them passed between the sea and their 

 burrows, bearing small fish, portions of the shining 

 bodies of which protruded from their bills. 



Whether at rest or on the wing, the puffin is a 

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