2lS CASSELL'S BOOK OF BIRDS. 



growling and yelping of young dogs, at the same time spreading out their tails and biting their 

 opponent with their sharp bills. The young one when hatched is clothed in down, but although 

 abundantly provided with tood by both parents, its growth is anything but rapid ; indeed, it is 

 not until after the lapse of several months that it is able to leave its home and make its 

 appearance on the surface of the sea. By this time it has been so well fed that its breast is 

 covered with a layer of fat fully an inch thick ; it is at this period that these birds are sought for 

 and killed in great numbers, affording a most acceptable addition to the scanty fare of the 

 inhabitants of the islands favoured by their presence. 



THE MANX PUFFIN, OR SHEARWATER. 



The Manx Puffin, or Shearwater {Puffinus Anglorum), is provided with a beak of moderate 

 length, but narrow and weak, the upper mandible of which terminates in a sharp hook, which is 

 received in a corresponding depression of the lower jaw which bends down at its extremity. The 

 plumage of the adult bird is brownish black upon the upper parts of the body, and pure white 

 upon the under side ; the sides of the neck are marked with grey. The eye is brown, the beak 

 grey, the foot greenish yellow. This species is fourteen inches long, and from thirty to thirty-two 

 inches broad, the wing measures ten inches and the tail two inches and a half. At present it is 

 uncertain how far the range of the Manx Puffin extends, for such is the similarity of colour in 

 the different species, that they are doubtless frequently mistaken for each other by incompetent 

 observers ; we are, however, sure that it is met with as far south as the coasts of France and 

 Spain, and has occasionally been seen on the shores of the Mediterranean. In Germany it is very 

 common, and also makes its appearance in Heligoland every year with considerable regularity. It is 

 also certain that this bird breeds in Iceland, the Hebrides, Shetland, Scilly, and Faroe Islands. A 

 small island near the Calf of Man, although now deserted, was formerly inhabited by this bird in 

 great numbers ; it is also abundant on the coast of South Wales, in spring ; occasionally it visits 

 Iceland and the east coast of England. The Manx Puffin arrives in Great Britain about March, and 

 departs in August, only resorting to the land during the breeding season, and selecting for the purpose 

 of incubation small islands or rocky shores away from any haunts of man. At the commencement 

 of this century the capture of the eggs and young afforded an important means of support to the 

 poor and hardy inhabitants of the islands they principally frequent ; and Mr. Low gives us the 

 following account of the manner in which they were obtained : — " A man sitting on the brink of 

 the rock with a coil of rope made of hair on his arm, will let his neighbour many fathoms over the 

 steepest rocks, such as would make other people shudder to look at, and yet these men think no more 

 of it than an airing ; and though few years pass without some or other of them perishing, yet this 

 never deters the survivors. It is really dreadful to see people let over a rock several hundred fathoms 

 high, with the deep below them, supported only by the single arm of their comrades, who have 

 nothing to rest themselves against. Sometimes, indeed, both slip together. In August the young 

 are fit for taking, and are very much sought after as delicacies by those who love good cheer. They 

 are indeed very fat, but are nauseously rank and fishy-tasted ; however, they sell pretty high, and are 

 lucrative to the captors. The country people salt them down for winter provision, and boil them with 

 cabbage. They likewise take the old ones in March, but these are poor and not nearly so good as 

 the young." 



