605 



to secure them. Those which happened to be caught alive in the hand bit most severely, and 

 scratched with their claws at such a rate that we were glad to let them escape. 



" The burrows here communicated in various ways with each other, so that the whole island 

 was perforated as if by a multitude of subterranean labyrinths, over which one could not run 

 without the risk of falling at every step. The voices of the young sounded beneath our feet like 

 voices from the grave ; and the stench was extremely disagreeable ; so that as soon as our boats 

 were filled with birds we were glad to get away. During the whole of our visit the birds never 

 left the place, but constantly attended to their avocations. Here one would rise beneath our 

 feet ; there, within a few yards of us, another would alight with a fish, and dive into its burrow, 

 or feed the young that stood waiting at the entrance. The young birds were far from being 

 friendly towards each other ; and those which we carried with us kept continually fighting so 

 long as we kept them alive. They used their yet extremely small bills with great courage and 

 pertinacity ; and their cries resembled the wailings of young whelps. The smaller individuals 

 were fed by the parents by regurgitation, or receiving small pieces of fish which were placed in 

 their mouth ; the larger picked up the pieces of fish that were dropped before them ; but almost 

 all of them seemed to crawl to the entrance of the hole for the purpose of being fed. In all the 

 burrows that communicated with others a round place was scooped out on one side of the avenue 

 in the form of an oven, while in those which were single this oven-like place was found at the 

 end, and was larger than the corridor. All the passages were flattish above, and rounded 

 beneath, as well as on the sides. In many instances we found two birds sitting, each on its own 

 egg, in the same hole." 



The egg of the Puffin is white and has a dull, somewhat rough, surface ; occasionally one 

 finds eggs marked with brown; and I possess several, selected out of a series, which have a 

 wreath of light brown hieroglyphic markings round the larger end, and one with a large dark 

 brown spot or two. In size those in my collection vary from 2\% by 1|^ to 2f-§ by lf^ and 



m by 1ft inch. 



The specimens figured are examples from Greenland and Norway, in my own collection. 



In the preparation of the above article I have examined the following specimens : — 



E Mus. H. E. Dresser. 



a. Barra Head, June 15th, 1868 (H. J. Elwes). b. Orkney (Dunn). c,a,d,$. Orkney, August 22nd, 1872 

 (Dunn), e. Nordland, Norway (R. Collett). f, 6 . Greenland (Erichsen). g,juv. Tangier (Olcese). 

 h,pull. Stappen, North Cape, June 26th, 1872 (R. Collett). 



E Mus. Cantabr. 

 a, s ■ Ice Sound, W. Spitzhergen, July 13th, 1862 (A. Newton), b, c. Spitzbergen (A. N.). d. No locality. 



E Mus. H. B. Tristram. 



a. Orkneys (Dunn), b, 6 . Bamborough, Northumberland, April 25th, 1866 (/. H. Gurney,jun.). c. Grimsey 

 Island, d. Spitzbergen? 



