4 



WATER BIRDS 



Puffin breeds extensively on the Farallone Islands and, 

 to a limited extent, on Santa Barbara and San Clementi 

 and Point Reyes Islands. Its single egg is laid in 

 the barest semblance of a nest at the end of a burrow, 

 or in a crevice among the rocks, or often under the 

 shelter of a boulder. Wherever the nest may be it is 

 always valiantly defended, and 

 only in the rare absence of 

 both parents will the collec- 

 tor rob it. The only child 

 receives all the atten- 

 tion proverbially given to "**"- 

 only children, for the nest is 

 never left unguarded and the par- 

 ents make a fierce fight if molested 

 The young puffin is an odd- 

 looking baby, for it inherits 

 the family bill. Otherwise 

 it looks like a gray rat crouched at the entrance to 

 its home run. Both adults and young are noisy, con- 

 stantly growling from their burrows, and croaking 

 when outside ; this with their odd bill, white face- 

 mask, and drooping yellow ear-tufts, makes them 

 eerie creatures of the sea. Their food consists of fish, 

 mollusks, and Crustacea, which they obtain by diving, 

 using both wings and feet to propel themselves under 

 water. This top-heavy bird is exceedingly awkward on 

 land, and especially so when alighting with a fish in its 

 beak, as with a swinging motion it drops its feet very 

 wide apart. In feeding, the parent holds the fish or 



12. Tufted Puffin. n # •' -j 



" As a puppy enjoys a bone." f* ^ 



