56 
ALCAD.E. 
party have taken the reqijisite charge of the egg or the 
young; a disposition in these birds that might be a proper 
lesson to man under similar circumstances. 
The food of the Puffin consists of small fish and small 
Crustacea; the young are fed with fish, until they can pro¬ 
vide for themselves, and follow the example of their parents, 
with whom they leave their birth-place as soon as they are 
capable of doing so. The shape of the Puffin’s beak is 
such as to enable the bird to lodge within it several small 
fishes at a time, which it carries securely while still con¬ 
tinuing to catch more ; and thereby the trouble of going 
for food for the nestling is considerably simplified; the 
bird may frequently be observed returning to the breeding- 
ground, laden with fishes, several of Avhicli project out of 
its beak, giving it the appearance of having moustaches. 
The Puffin measures thirteen inches six lines ; the beak 
one inch eleven lines; the height of the beak at the base is 
one inch seven lines ; the tarsus one inch one line ; the 
wing six inches six lines. 
The crown of the head, collar around the neck, and the 
entire upper plumage are glossy black; the cheeks and 
throat are pearl-coloured grey, darkest about the base of 
the lower mandible ; the breast and all the under parts 
are pure wdiite; the legs and feet are bright orange; the 
beak is grey at the base, the middle orange, and the tip 
bright red ; there are three grooves on the upper mandible 
and two on the lower; the gape is thickly bordered with 
a red skin, there is a pearl-grey horny appendage to the 
lower eyelid, of an oblong shape, and another on the upper 
eyelid, of a triangular form ; the eyes are grey, the eyelids 
orange. There is no difference in the plumage of the two 
sexes. The plumage of the young birds differs in being 
dusky instead of black on the upper parts. 
The egg figured 285 is that of the Puffin. 
