Puffin. 515 



Lunde, ' Puffin/ and ey, island, a name given it by the northern 

 rovers who once made it their residence, and here the Puffins 

 still burrow in myriads. We can imagine how warmly their 

 arrival was welcomed by the Arctic voyagers, when, after a long 

 dreary winter in the ice, they first caught sight of these summer 

 migrants, not so much on account of the fresh meat which they 

 afforded, but from their lively manners and the return of summer 

 which their presence proclaimed. As early as the reign of 

 Edward I. the Crown rent was paid in Puffins, not for the sake 

 of their flesh, but for their feathers : as for the same reason the 

 rent of some of the western islands of Scotland continues to be 

 paid in birds to this day. So the Scilly Islands once owned by 

 a Wiltshireman were held under the Crown at the rent of fifty 

 Puffins, or 6s. 8d., per annum. In 1484 the islands were returned 

 as worth, in peaceable times, forty shillings ; in war times, 

 nothing.* This bird is said to have derived its name Fratercula, 

 1 Little Brother,' from its sociable gregarious habits and its habit 

 of dwelling in communities, and arctica, as it is to be met with 

 in the far North; but its provincial names are too many to 

 enumerate, ' Sea Parrot,' ' Bottle Nose/ and ' Coulter-Neb,' all 

 alluding to its extraordinary beak, being among the most 

 common. The word ' Puffin ' is, on the authority of Skeat, 

 either from its puffed-out, rounded stomach, or, more probably, 

 from its peculiar swelling beak, like that of a parrot. The Kev. 

 T. A. Preston sent me for identification a specimen which had 

 been found near Marlborough in the autumn of 1869. It was 

 in immature plumage, and was, in fact, a bird of the year, having 

 neither arrived at the size nor the distinctive characteristics of 

 the parents ; indeed, except for a faint indication of transverse 

 grooves along both mandibles, neither the shape, colour, nor 

 markings of the beak betokened the remarkable formation 

 peculiar to this bird when in adult dress. There were two 

 individuals which made their appearance near Marlborough, and 

 both of which were seen by Mr. Preston in the flesh. They were 

 not found together, but one was caught on the banks of the 



Wiltshire Magazine^ vol. i., p. 156. 



332 



