500 



discoloured. The young keep to their burrows until they 

 are well fledged, when they flutter down and accompany 

 their parents out to sea. They run the chance of being 

 seized by Falcons, and by the larger Gulls, especially if the 

 burrows are not quite close to the edge of the cliff. 



Before August is over, the cliffs are quite deserted and 

 the birds may be seen scattered on the neighbouring seas. 

 A distinct southerly move takes place in autumn 1 and after 

 November, few birds, save stragglers, are seen off our 

 coasts. 



The following localities accommodate large colonies : 

 In England ; the Scilly Isles, Lundy Island, Flamborough 

 Cliffs, and the Fame Islands. 



In Scotland; the large Western and Northern Groups, 

 including St. Kilda. 



In Ireland ; many of the islands off the wild western and 

 southern shores, also Kathlin Island and Horn Head in the 

 north, and the Saltees, and Lambay 2 on the east coast. 



Geographical distribution. Though reaching higher 

 latitudes than our Islands, yet the Puffin is a bird which 

 resorts to Temperate and Sub-arctic regions in the breeding- 

 season. Thus in Europe its range extends from the coast 

 of France up the Channel Isles, northward to the Faroes, 

 Iceland, and the Norway coast. Eastward it reaches 

 Novaya Zemlya. In America it breeds in Greenland up 

 to 70 N. lat. and along the east coast of Canada as far 

 south as the Bay of Fundy, migrating in winter down to 

 Massachusetts (Saunders). On its southern migration it 

 is not uncommon in many European Seas including the 

 Mediterranean, as far east as Sicily, but it chiefly resorts 

 to the North Atlantic Ocean, down to lat. 40 N. 



DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS. 



PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial. Top of head, greyish- 

 black ; forehead, dark grey ; cheeks, chin, throat, and sides 



1 Mr. Harvie-Brown cites that at Eilean Ghlais, countless numbers 

 were observed travelling south during the first three days of August, 

 1894 (Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., 1894, p. 224). 



2 On June 17th, and again on July 22nd, 1900, I visited this Island 

 and found a small colony breeding in rabbit-burrows on the slope of the 

 cliffs. 



