180 BIRDS OF GUERNSEY. 



purpose of what they call "Barbeloting;" and they 

 soon lift up the loose earth with their hands and 

 get at the eggs ; but the Puffins, who have laid in 

 holes in the rocks and amongst loose stones, are 

 much better off, as a good big stone of two or 

 three tons is not so easily moved. I visited all 

 these little islands in the summer of 1878 with 

 Mr. Howard Saunders, and we found all the Puffins 

 who had had eggs in holes in the earth had been 

 robbed almost without an exception ; the others, 

 however, were pretty safe. Besides these islands 

 the Puffins breed in Alderney itself, and on Burhou, 

 where, however, their eggs are robbed nearly as much 

 as in the islands north of Herm, especially the eggs 

 of those who choose holes in the soft earth. The 

 Puffins do not seem to be very regular in their time 

 of nesting ; at least, when I was at Burhou on the 

 14th of June, 1876, I found quite fresh eggs, 

 eggs just ready to hatch, young birds in the down, 

 and young birds just beginning to get a few feathers 

 and almost able to take to the water ; it was fun 

 to see one of these when he had been unearthed 

 waddle off to the nearest hole as fast as his legs 

 could carry him generally, however, coming down 

 every second or third step. The reason for the 

 irregularity in hatching was probably owing to the 

 first brood having been lost, the eggs probably 

 having been robbed. During the breeding season 

 the Puffins keep very close to their breeding-stations, 



