Birds by Land and Sea 



curious-looking creature. At rest, they stand rank 

 above rank on the topmost rocky ledges facing the 

 sea, their black backs, collars, and crowns, white 

 faces and underparts, combining with their erect 

 attitude and disposition in line to give them some- 

 thing of military uniformity and regularity. But 

 when one noted the great tri-coloured beak, the 

 apparently spectacled eyes, and remarked the mild 

 surprise with which the birds regarded our intrusion, 

 one could not resist the idea that there was some- 

 thing ludicrously artificial in the make-up of the 

 puffin ; for surely there never was a bird less bird- 

 like in its appearance than the puffin at rest. They 

 were tame enough to allow us to approach almost 

 within striking distance, had we been disposed to 

 strike anything so mild-mannered as a puffin. 

 When the bird is on the wing, the flight is rapid, 

 but laboured, the short wings beating violently, and 

 as the bird flies, especially if returning to its burrow 

 with fish, it utters a peculiar sound a deep-throated, 

 mirthless laughter, as it were, which may be imitated 

 by laughing in the throat with the lips closed. 



It is a matter of speculation how the puffin, 

 which catches fish by diving, contrives to retain the 

 first fish in its bill while it captures a second or a 

 third. Possibly the tongue is used to hold it to 

 the roof of the mouth, while the under mandible is 

 lowered to make the later captures. The slope 

 where the puffins nest is redolent of fish, and to 

 be there on a summer day with a warm breeze 



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