2 he "Puffin of Days Gone Hy. 



On the 12th of August, our Captain, my 

 friends George Shattuck and William 

 Ingalls, with four sailors, and another 

 boat in company, went on a visit to "Per- 

 raket Island" distant about two miles 

 from the harbor i of Bras d' Or. The 

 place is known to all cod-fishers, and is 

 celebrated for the number of Puffins that 

 annually breed there. As we rowed 

 towards it, although we found the water 

 literally covered with thousands of these 

 birds, the number that flew over and 

 around the green island seemed much 

 greater, insomuch that one might have 

 imagined half the Puffins in the world 

 had assembled there. This far-famed 

 isle is of considerable extent, its shores 

 are guarded by numberless blocks of rock 

 and within a few yards of it the water is 

 several fathoms in depth. The ground 

 rises in the form of an ampitheater to the 

 height of about seventy feet, the greatest 

 length being from north to south, and its 

 southern extremity fronting the Strait of 

 • Belle Isle. For every hole previously 

 visited by us there seemed to be a hun- 

 dred here, on every crag or stone there 

 stood a Puffin, at the entrance of each hole 

 another, and yet the sea was covered and 

 air rilled by them. I had two double-bar- 

 relled guns and two sailors to assist me; 

 and I shot for one hour by my watch, al- 

 ways firing at a single bird on the wing. 

 How many Puffins I killed in that time I 

 take the liberty of leaving you to guess. 



The burrows were all inhabited by 

 young birds, of different ages and sizes, 

 and clouds of Puffins flew over our heads, 

 each individual holding a "lint" by the 

 head. This fish which measures four or 

 five inches in length, and is of a very slen- 

 der form, with a beautiful silvery hue, 

 existed in vast shoals in the deep water 

 around the island. The speed with 

 which the birds flew made the fish incline 

 by the side of their necks. While flying 

 the Puffins emitted a loud croaking noise, 

 but they never dropped the fish and 

 many of them, when brought down by a 

 shot, still held their prey fast. I observed 

 with concern the extraordinary affection 

 manifested by these birds towards each 

 other; for whenever one fell dead or 

 wounded on the water, its mate or a stran- 

 ger immediately alighted by its side, 

 swam around it, pushed it with its bill as 

 if to urge it to fly or dive, and seldom 

 would leave it until an oar was raised to 

 knock it on the head, when at last, aware 

 of the danger, it would plunge below in 

 an instant. Those which fell wounded 



immediately ran with some speed to a 

 hole, and dived into it, on which no fur- 

 ther effort was made to secure them. 

 Those which happened to be caught alive 

 in the hand bit quite badly and scratched 

 with their claws at such a rate that we 

 were glad to let them escape. The bur- 

 rows communicated in various ways with 

 each other, so that the whele island was 

 perforated as if by a multitude of subter- 

 ranean labyrinths, over which no one 

 could run without the risk of falling at 

 almost every step. The voices of the 

 young sounded beneath our feet like 

 voices from the grave, and the stench was 

 extremely disagreeable, so that as soon 

 as our boats were filled with birds we 

 were glad to get away. 



During the whole of our visit, the birds 

 never left the island, but constantly 

 attended to their avocations. Here one 

 would rise from beneath our feet, within 

 a few yards of us, another would alight 

 with a fish, and dive into its burrow, or 

 feed the young that stood at the entrance. 

 The young birds were far from being 

 friendly towards each other, and those 

 which we carried with us kept continually 

 fighting as long as we kept them alive. 

 They used their yet extremely small and 

 slender bills with great courage and per- 

 tinacity, and their cries resembled the 

 wailings of young whelps. The smaller 

 individuals were fed by the parents by 

 regurgitation, or received little pieces of 

 fish which were placed in their mouths, 

 the larger picked up the fish that were 

 dropped before them; but almost all of 

 them seemed to crawl to the entrance of 

 the holes for the purpose of being fed. 

 In all the burrows that communicated 

 with others, a round place was scooped 

 out on one side of the avenue, in the form 

 of an oven; while in those which were 

 single, this oven like place was found at 

 the end. All passages were flattish above, 

 and rounded beneath, as well as on the 

 sides. In many instances we found two 

 birds sitting each on its own egg in the 

 same hole.— Birds of America. 



—While on a skating expedition, W. C. 

 Brownell, of Plymouth, Mich., had the 

 good luck to' find a set of two eggs of No. 

 405, Great Horned Owl. He secured both 

 birds with the help of a revolver. 



Only $2.50. 



On receipt of the above amount I will send you 



by express a copy of Davie's Esg Check List, and 



a'pair of Climbing Irons strapped ready for use. 



T. YERNON WILSON, Austin, III. 



