600 



Adult Male (Greenland). Crown black with a brownish tinge; space above the eye, sides of the head, chin, 

 and upper throat ashy grey ; entire neck narrowing to a narrow band in front, back and upper parts 

 generally, including the wings and tail, deep black, the upper parts glossed with purple; underparts 

 below the black collar pure white ; bill richly coloured, the general colour being livid purplish blue, the 

 upper ridge and those crossing the bill orange or orange-red, the flesh part round the gape orange, and 

 the ridge at the base of the bill of a greenish tinge ; iris brownish grey, in very old birds becoming 

 pearl-white, the fleshy patch above and below the eye lead-blue ; legs bright orange. Total length 

 about 11*5 inches, gape T55, height of bill at the base 15, wing 6 - 7, tail 2'0, tarsus 115. 



Adult Female. Resembles the male, but is a trifle smaller, and has a smaller bill. 



Young (Tangier) . Differs from the adult in having the bill smaller and not so high ; the sides of the head 

 are much deeper grey in colour ; and the entire space in front of and above and below the eye is sooty 

 black ; legs dull orange-yellow ; iris brown ; bill much less richly coloured than in the adult. 



Young in down (Stappen, North Cape) . Covered with soft long down, sooty blackish brown in colour, except 

 on the abdomen, where it is white; head and neck rather blacker than the rest of the plumage. 



The present species inhabits the northern portions of Europe and the Atlantic coasts of North 

 America, being replaced on the Pacific side of that continent by a tolerably closely allied species, 

 Mormon corniculata, Naum. It breeds in Europe as far south as the coasts of France, and 

 straggles in winter clown to the shores of North Africa. In Great Britain it is tolerably common 

 all round the coasts, breeding in suitable localities, but is much less numerous in the south than 

 it is in the north. It is only found inshore during the nesting-season, appearing in April, and 

 in August it departs again for the ocean ; but some few may at times be seen near the coast at 

 all seasons of the year. Yarrell enumerates the following breeding-stations as inhabited by this 

 species, viz. : — the Isle of Man ; the coast of Anglesey ; the Scilly Islands, where it is more 

 common than in Cornwall ; the high cliffs of the Isle of Wight, between the Needle rocks and 

 Freshwater Gate ; the Yorkshire coast ; the Farn Islands ; Puffin Island, in the Frith of Forth, 

 and others of the numerous Scottish islands. In many parts its numbers have greatly decreased; 

 and though it still breeds in the Isle of Wight, it only does so in small numbers. According to 

 Montagu it used formerly to breed in the cliffs of Dover, but has not done so for many years. 

 On the east coast it does not breed, owing to the want of suitable localities, further south than 

 the Yorkshire coast, where, Mr. Cordeaux writes (B. of Humb. Distr. p. 157), it " nests annually 

 in immense numbers on the Flamborough rocks. The Puffins do not arrive at their breeding- 

 haunts until after the Guillemot, Razor-billed Auks, and Kittiwake Gulls. I have rarely met 

 with any off the rocks before the middle of April, the main body not arriving, as a rule, at their 

 nesting-stations before the first week in May, and commencing laying about the end of that 

 month. Mr. Baily, of Flamborough, says that he has occasionally met with Puffins off the cliffs 

 in February. The fact is, as our fisherman told me, some Puffins may be found far from land in 

 the North Sea throughout winter. In long-continued storms, like other sea-birds, they come 

 nearer the coast, and are then sometimes killed within the Humber." Mr. Hancock says that in 

 Northumberland and Durham it is " a resident, frequent on the coast all the year. It breeds on 

 tne Fame Islands. In the first week in June 1851, in company with Mr. W. C. Hewitson and 



