54 
ALCAD.E. 
NATATORES. 
ALCADJE. 
PLATE CCLXXXV. 
PUFFIN. 
FRATERCULA ARCTICA. 
The Puffin is a summer visitant in Great Britain, arriving 
in April, and departing in August, or early in September. 
This species extends, during the summer months, over most 
northern countries of Europe, Asia, and America. In the 
Old World it goes as high north as Spitzbergen, Lapland, 
Norway, and Iceland; and in the New World, to Baffin’s 
Bay, Hudson’s Bay, Labrador, and the northern parts of 
Greenland, where very large numbers breed. The winter 
quarters of the Puffin are south of us, on the open sea, at a 
great distance from the land; this species is so entirely a 
sea-bird, that its appearance on land only takes place during 
the breeding season ; and it remains there only long enough 
to fulfil its parental duties. 
The general appearance of the Puffin is so peculiarly its 
own, in consequence of the shape of its beak, that it cannot 
possibly be mistaken for any other bird by the most common 
observer. Its general position on land is as represented in 
our plate ; it walks and moves about in a manner much more 
alert than most other auks, but when at rest it supports 
itself also on the tarsi and its hinder parts ; it does not 
sit still for any length of time, but is very restless, con- 
