PELECANIN^E. 219 



Puffins are not observed on our coasts in winter, for, al- 

 though they breed much farther north than Britain, they pro- 

 ceed in autumn farther toward the equator. In the end of 

 spring they make their appearance about the islands and head- 

 lands on which they breed, on various parts of the coast of 

 England and Scotland, as the Fern Islands, Puffin Island in 

 the Frith of Forth, Priestholm in Anglesey, the Isle of Mann, 

 Berneray of Barray, and St Kilda. They dig holes in the 

 earth, from two to three feet in length, in which a single egg 

 is deposited. It is white, oval, two inches and a half long, 

 an inch and ten-twelfths in breadth, the young remain in the 

 burrows until well grown, and all the individuals disperse by 

 the middle of August. Although rank, the flesh of this bird 

 is often eaten. The Puffins fly with rapidity, and are very 

 active upon and in the water, being more lively than even 

 the Auks and Guillemots, which, however, they resemble in 

 their habits. 



Coulterneb. Bottle-nose. Tammie-norrie, Tommy-noddy, 

 Tommy. Cockandy. Pope. Sea Parrot. 

 Alca arctica, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 211. Alcaarctica, Lath. 

 Ind. Ornith. ii. 792. Mormon Fratercula, Temin. Man. 

 d'Ornith. ii. 933. Mormon arcticus, Arctic Puffin, MacGil- 

 livray, Brit. Birds, v. 



We come now to a family in many respects among the 

 most remarkable of the Palmipede series, and to which it is 

 impossible to assign a definite station among either the Divers 

 or Plungers, some of them being in habits swjmming and div- 

 ing birds, and others plunging-birds, incapable of diving 

 without ascending in the air, and falling headlong on their 

 prey. Their whole organization, however, indicates a much 

 greater affinity to the Urinatrices than to the Mersatrices ; 

 and for this reason they may be considered as forming a 

 transitional or aberrant family of that order. 



FAMILY XL VII. PELECANINJE. PELECA- 

 NINE BIRDS, OR PELICANS, CORMORANTS, 

 AND GANNETS. 



The Pelecaninse are with us represented only by two 

 species of Cormorant, and a Gannet, two genera which 



