THE TUFTED PUFFIN 



BY WILLIAM LEON DAWSON 



To those who have been fortunate enough to visit some romantic 

 isle off the North Pacific shore these quaint fowls make an irresistible 

 appeal of interest. Sea-parrots and Jew ducks, the sailors call 

 them; and we should all be inclined to poke fun at them for their 

 outlandish head-gear if their behavior were not so dignified. For my 

 own part, I confess a positive affection for these droll Quakers. 



It is difficult to exaggerate the gravity of these tranquil birds, 

 always absolutely silent, save that, when caught and harassed, they 

 may emit a low, hoarse groan. They spend much time standing 

 demurely at the entrances of their burrows, their little plumes, nod- 

 ding like tassels on so many caps. 



Puffins, like other species of the auk family, spend the winter 

 upon the ocean, and are seen near land only when the buffeting of 

 some storm of unusual severity strews the sand with bodies of dead 

 and wounded. As spring advances, and the new summer coat of 

 plumage grows out, these birds acquire an extraordinary array of 

 ornaments and appendages. Males and females alike receive, in 

 place of dull black feathers, a white facial mask; and this is prolonged 

 behind from each side into long, waving feather-horns of a rich, 

 deep straw-color. The eyelid becomes a brilliant red ; and the great 

 red beak, always stout and strongly compressed, is further enlarged 

 at the base by a new set of horny plates of a dull oil-green or delicate 

 horn-color, which exactly matches the eyes in tint. The feet also 

 become bright vermilion, instead of a pale salmon. 



A puffin's bill is so remarkable a creation that a glance at its 

 structure may not be out of place ; yet as to the necessity of this 

 powerful crushing organ we are ignorant. The bird is not a shallow- 

 water feeder, and so has no need to break bivalved shells to pieces. 

 Moreover, in the breeding-season it seems to subsist upon small 

 fish, which are as easily taken by the slender-billed murre. We 

 do know that the puffin's queer bill is wonderfully composed of 

 eighteen plates (with underlying membranes), and that of these six- 

 teen, including "rosettes, lamellae and selvedges," but chiefly the 

 olive-green basal plates, fall away at the end of the breeding-season. 

 Their place is taken partly by underlying feathered tracts, and partly 

 by an underlying horny plate colored deep brown ; and the breadth 

 of the bill is much reduced. At the same time the white facial mask 



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