(516 THE COMMON PUFFIN. 



No living- specimens have been obtained during the last forty years. Tn 186f) the last sale 

 of one, stuffed, was made in London, when one was purchased for the American Museum 

 of Natural History by Robert L. Stuart. The price paid was $625. The length of the Great 

 Auk is alxmt three feet. Its wings are only four inches long. It inhabited the highest 

 latitudes, and but few years since was abundant in the Arctic regions. The shell-heaps along 

 the coast as far south as Massachusetts contain numerous examples of the bones of this bird. 

 Nuttall, in L834, records that this bird was then breedingin numbers in Iceland and Greenland. 

 A competent cause for their early extinction is seen in the fact that they lay but one egg in a 

 season, a circumstance thai seems most remarkable. It is supposed that the lastof these birds 

 seen alive were off the Funks, on the shores of Newfoundland, in 1S44. In 1870 a specimen 



was found dead in Labrador; though in ] r condition, it was sold for $200. There are live 



specimens known to our American collections. 



Another species of the same genus, the Razor-Bill (Aim, tarda), is tolerably common 

 in the Arctic seas, and is occasionally found in Northern Europe. The eggsof this species are 

 singularly variable. Mr. Champley informs me that he possesses live hundred distinct speci- 

 mens. 



This is one of the prettiest species; its bill is very peculiar, but is handsomely colored. 

 It is abundant along the rocky shores of the Atlantic. 



The Ska Dove (Alle nigricans). This little bird is very familiar to those who live near 

 the sea-shore of the Eastern States. It is a northern bird, but during the heavy storms of 

 winter it is sometimes blown ashore, and is then picked up with ease, as it is quite exhausted. 

 Its length is but eight inches. 



The Least Auk (Ciceronia pusilla) is yet smaller than the Sea Dove, measuring less than 

 seven inches in length. Tt is exclusively a North Pacific bird. Cassin's Auk is another of the 

 Northwestern species— a little larger. The Parrot Auk, Crested Auk. Whiskered Auk are 

 also native to the northwest coast of America. They are all quite small. The Least Auk 

 changes its plumage so considerably in point of color, that two species have been created out 

 of the summer and winter plumage. The pretty, richly-colored projections on the upper 

 mandibles are shed in winter, and renewed on the coming of the breeding-season. 



The odd little Puffin is remarkable for the singular shape, enormous size, and light colors 

 of its beak, which really looks as if it had been originally made for some much larger bird. 

 Owing to the dimensions of the beak it is often called the Ska Parrot, or the Coulterner. 



The Puffin can lly rapidly and walk tolerably, but it dives and swims supremely well, 

 chasing fish in the water, and often bringing out a. whole row of sprats at a time, ranged along 

 the side of its bill, all the heads being within the mouth and all the tails dangling outside. It 

 breeds upon the rocks and in the rabbit-warrens near the sea. finding the ready-made burrows 

 of the rabbit very convenient for the reception of its eggs, and fighting with the owner for pos- 

 session of the burrow. Where rabbits do not exist, the Puffin digs its own burrow, anil works 

 hard at its labor. The egg isgenerally placed several feet within the holes, and the parents 

 defend it vigorously. Even the raven makes little of an attack, for the Puffin gripes his foe as 

 he best can, and tries to tumble into the sea, where the raven is soon drowned, and the little 

 champion returns home in triumph. The egg is white, but soon becomes stained bythe earth. 

 The food of this bird consists of fish, crustaceans, and insects. 



The top of the head, the back, and a ring round the neck are black, and the cheeks and 

 under surfaces are white. The beak is curiously striped with orange upon bluish-gray, and 

 the legs and toes are orange. The length of this bird is about one foot. 



The Common Puffin (Fratericida arctica) is a singular looking bird, its bill beim;- very 

 thin and compressed, while it is very deep. It is abundant along the north Atlantic' coast. A 

 variety r/lacialis is larger. The Horn Puffin, Tufted, and Horn-billed Puffin are confined to 

 the Pacific coast. 



