COMMON OR ARCTIC PUFFIN. 239 



the angry waters rolled back and left it on the land. After securing the 

 boat, we reached with a few steps the green sward, and directly before us 

 found abundance of Puffins. Some already alarmed flew past us with the 

 speed of an arrow, others stood erect at the entrance of their Burrows, while 

 some more timid withdrew within their holes as we advanced towards 

 them. In the course of half an hour we obtained a good number. The 

 poor things seemed not at all aware of the effect of guns, for they would fly 

 straight towards us as often as in any other direction; but after awhile they 

 became more knowing, and avoided us with more care. We procured some 

 eggs, and as no young ones were yet to be found, we went off satisfied. 

 The soil was so light, and so easily dug, that many of the burrows extended 

 to the depth of five or six feet, although not more than a few inches below 

 the surface, and some of the poor birds underwent a temporary imprisonment 

 in consequence of the ground giving way under our weight. The whole 

 island was perforated like a rabbit-warren, and every hole had its entrance 

 placed due south, a circumstance which allowed the birds to emerge in our 

 sight almost all at once, presenting a spectacle highly gratifying to us all. 

 Our visit to this island took place on the 2Sth of June, 1833. 



On the 12th of August, our Captain, my friends George Shattttck and 

 William Ingalls, with four sailors, and another boat in company, went on 

 a visit to "Perroket Island," distant about two miles from the harbour of 

 Bras d'Or. The place is known to all the cod-fishers, and is celebrated for 

 the number of Puffins that annually breed there. As we rowed towards it, 

 although we found the water literally covered with thousands of these birds, 

 the number that flew over and around the green island seemed much greater, 

 insomuch that one might have imagined half the Puffins in the world had 

 assembled there. This far-famed isle is of considerable extent, its shores are 

 guarded by numberless blocks of rock, and within a few yards of it the 

 water is several fathoms in depth. The ground rises in the form of an 

 amphitheatre to the height of about seventy feet, the greatest length being 

 from north to south, and its southern extremity fronting the Strait of Belle- 

 isle. For every burrow in the island previously visited by us there 

 seemed to be a hundred here, on every crag or stone stood a Puffin, at the 

 entrance of each hole another, and yet the sea was covered and the air filled 

 by them. I had two double-barrelled guns and two sailors to assist me; and 

 I shot for one hour by my watch, always firing at a single bird on wing. 

 How many Puffins I killed in that time I take the liberty of leaving you to 

 guess. 



The burrows were all inhabited by young birds, of different ages and 

 sizes, and clouds of Puffins flew over our heads, each individual holding a 

 "lint" by the head. This fish, which measures four or five inches in length, 



