f 
680 AVES—GREAT AUK. 
view and search out their former situations, and see whether all be well 
This done, they once more depart; and, about the beginning of May, return 
again with the whole army of their companions. But if the season happens 
to be stormy and tempestuous, and the sea troubled, the unfortunate 
voyagers undergo incredible hardships; and they are found, by hundreds, 
east away upon the shores, lean, and perished with famine. 
The puffin, when it prepares for breeding, which always happens a few 
days after its arrival, begins to scrape out a hole in the ground, not far from 
the shore; and when it has penetrated some way into the earth, it then 
throws itself upon its back, and with its bill and claws thus burrows inward, 
till it has dug a hole with several windings and turnings, from eight to ten 
feet deep. It particularly seeks to dig under a stone, where it expects the 
greatest security. In this fortified retreat it lays one egg, which, though 
the bird be not much bigger than a pigeon, is the size of a hen’s. 
Few birds or beasts will venture to attack them in their retreats. When 
the great sea raven comes to take away their young, the puffin boldly op- 
poses him. Their meetings afford a most singular combat. As soon as the 
raven approacees, the puffin catches him under the throat with its beak, and 
sticks its claws into its breast, which makes the raven, with a loud scream- 
ing, attempt to get away; but the little bird still holds fast to the invader, 
nor lets him go till they both come to the sea, when they drop down together, 
and the raven is drowned; yet the raven is but too often successful, and, 
nvading the puffin at the bottom of its hole, devours both the parent and 
‘ts family. ive 
THE GR Bao 3s Ue 
{s distinguished peculiarly by the form of the bill, which is strong, convex, 
compressed at the sides, in general crossed with several furrows, and_in 
some degree resembling the coulter of a plough. 
It is the size of a goose; its bill is black, about four inches and a quarter 
in length, and covered at the base with short, velvet-like feathers. The 
upper parts of the plumage are black, and the lower parts white, witha 
spot of white between the bill and the eyes, and an oblong stripe of the 
same on the wings, which are too short for flight. The bird is alsoa very 
bad walker, but swims and dives well. It is, however, observed by seamen 
1 Alca impenuis, Lin. The genus Alca has the bill straight, broad, compressed, muck 
bent towards the tip, both mandibles half covered with feathers, and grooved near the 
pont the upper hooked, the lower forming a salient angle; nostrils Jateral, marginal 
near, situated near the middle of the bill, almost entirely closed by a membrane, au 
eovered with feathers; legs short, placed tar behind, with three toes directed forwards, 
and palinated; wings short. 
