602 



in the Spitsbergen waters. Indeed, when the extraordinary abundance of at least two of the 

 other species [Mergulus alle and Alca hruennichi] is taken into account, it may almost be called 

 rare. Eoss, however, couples it with the last in his statement that it was found in considerable 

 numbers on Walden and Little Table Islands ; but, on the other hand, Dr. Malmgren says that 

 this was not the case according to his experience. He saw several examples at the beginning of 

 September near Norway and Amsterdam Islands ; and in June some were shot in Treurenberg 

 Bay. In his last voyage he also found Puffins at Bear Island, but in no great numbers. We 

 observed them several times at a considerable distance from land ; but they were most plentiful, 

 as I have said, about Sassen Bay, some thirty or forty miles from the open sea. Dr. Malmgren 

 states that he can see no difference between specimens from Spitsbergen and others from Iceland 

 and Finmark, but that examples killed near G-ottenburg and in the Faeroes are decidedly smaller 

 and have lower bills. These, no doubt, are identical with our British Puffins." 



The Puffin very rarely enters the Baltic. It occurs in winter off Heligoland, but has not 

 bred there for the last forty years; and it occasionally visits the south coasts of the German 

 Ocean. Collin says that it very rarely occurs in Denmark ; a young bird was caught at Helsingor ; 

 Mechlenburg obtained specimens on the 20th October, 1831, and the 10th January, 1849, from 

 near Flensborg ; there are two specimens from Holstein in the Copenhagen Museum ; one was 

 found dead on the shore at Blokhusene on the 11th March, 1858 ; a week later another was 

 caught alive at the same place; and on the 23rd of the same month Mr. Schjoning obtained 

 three there; Mr. Juel got one at Lonstrup on the 20th January, 1863 ; Mr. C. Bjerring informed 

 Mr. Collin that he saw a young one which was shot near Hvidding in 1853; one was caught 

 alive on the Glatved coast on the 23rd December, 1874; and one was cast up dead some years 

 ago at Nordfeldt, on Moen. It is only an accidental visitant to the shores of Holland and 

 Belgium ; but it is common on the north and west coasts of France ; many breed on the rocks 

 and islands of Brittany and at the Aiguilles d'Etretat. In the Mediterranean it is principally 

 seen in the spring and autumn ; but MM. Jaubert and Barthelemy-Lapommeraye, having some- 

 times met with it there in July, are inclined to infer that it must breed on some of the small 

 unfrequented islands. It is said to be common on the coast of Portugal ; and Mr. Howard 

 Saunders informs me that on or about the 8th June 1868 he observed large numbers in the 

 vicinity of the rocky Berlengas Islands, off the mouth of the Tagus ; and he therefore supposes that 

 it breeds there : if it does, this is the southern limit of its breeding-range. It is found, though not 

 numerously, on the coasts of Spain. Colonel Irby says he has seen individuals in Gibraltar Bay 

 as late as the 5th March, but, as a rule, it is a rarer bird than the Gannet or even the Razorbill. 

 On the Italian coasts it is said to be of rare, and in Sicily of altogether exceptional, occur- 

 rence ; it is also a rare visitant to the island of Sardinia, a young specimen being described by 

 Salvador! under the name of F. glacialis. Mr. Howard Saunders, however, informs me that at 

 some distance from the shore it is not uncommon in winter, but, as the weather is seldom so 

 boisterous as in the northern seas, it is not so often driven upon the coasts, and does not so often 

 come under the notice of the Italian naturalists. Mr. C. A. Wright includes it in his list of the 

 birds of Malta and Gozo on the authority of Schembri, who mentions the capture of a single 

 specimen in November 1832. I do not find any record of its occurrence on the coasts of the 

 Eastern Mediterranean ; but it is found off the north-western coasts of Africa. Loche states that 



