( 72 ; 



The Puffin or Coulternih. Pica marina. 



Numb. LXXVIII, LXXIX. 



IT is not fo big as the tame Duck; its Length, from the Point of the Bill to the End of the- 

 Feet, twelve Inches ; Breadth, when the Wings are extended, twenty fix Inches ; its Bill is (hort, 

 broad, and comprefTed fide-ways, contrarily to the Bills o{ Ducks, of a triangular Figure, and 

 ending in a (harp Point; the upper Mandible arcuate, and crooked at the Point, where it is 

 joined to the Hea'd a certain callous Subftance encompaflles its Bafe, as in Parrots. Between 

 this callous Body, and the firft Furrow are long Holes; the Bill is of two Colours, near the 

 Head cinereous or livid, towards the Point red: it hath three Furrows or Groves imprefl^ed in it, 

 one in the livid Part, two in the red; the Mouth is yellow within, the Eyes grey or a(h-co!oured, 

 the Eye-lids are ftrengthened with a black Cartilage, in the lower is a carnous protuberance of 

 a livid Colour, in the upper a fmall triangular Excrefcency of the fame Colour. 



The Top of the Head, Neck, and Back are black; the Breaft and Belly white, a Ring or 

 Muffler of black produced from the Neck, encompaflTes the Throat; the Sides of the Head from 

 the Crown to the now mentioned Muffler are v/hite, with a Mixtute of yellow and Afh-colour,. 

 fo that the Eyes and Ears are included in thefe white Spaces ; the Wings are fmall made up of 

 fhort Feathers, neverthelefs near the Superficies of the Water they fly very fwiftly ; their Flight 

 is helped by dipping or wetting their Wings as they fly ; the Tail is two Inches long, made up 

 of twelve Feathers all black ; the Stomach within is yellow, the Liver is divided into two Lobesjn 

 with a Gall annexed ; the Cock is fomewhat darker than the Hen. 



The Legs and Feet are yellowifh red, or orange Colour, fituate backwards as in the Doukers 

 or Loons, fo that the Bird (tands or walks almoft perpendicularly eredted upon the Tail ; it 

 wants the back Toe, the inmoft of the fore Toe is the fhorteft ; the Claws are of a dark blue 

 inclining to black. 



They build no Neft, but lay their Eggs upon the bare Ground ; they breed in Holes under 

 Ground, which either they dig for themfelves or borrow of the Rabbits, whom they drive out 

 and difpoflfefs of their Burrows. They lay but one Egg a piece ("which is efpecially remarkable^ 

 but if you take away the Egg out of any Ned, that Bird will lay a fecond, if you move that, a 

 third, and fo on to the fifth. The Eggs are very large for the Bignefs of the Bird, even bigger 

 than Hens or Ducks, of a redifh or fandy Colour, much fharper at one End than Hen's Eggs, 

 and blunter at the other. In the Iflands of Man, BarcJfey, Caldey, Farn, Godreve, Sillies, and 

 other fmall defert Iflands near the Sea-fhore they breed yearly in great Numbers ; and not only 

 in Iflands, but alfo on Rocks and Cliffs by the Sea-fide, about Scarborough, Tenby, and elfe- 

 where. 



In the Summer Time they abide in the Places mentioned, being bufy in breeding, and feeding 

 their Young. In the beginning of Autumn they fly away, returning again the next Spring ;: 

 "whither they fly or where they fpend their Winter is not known. 



It is reported, that in the latter End of March, or Beginning of April, there come over firfl:fome 

 Spies or Harbingers, which fl;ay fome two or three Days, as it were to viev/ and fearch out the 

 Places they ufed to breed in, to fee whether all be well ; which done they depart, and about the 

 beginning of May return again with the whole Troop of their Fellows ; but if the Seafon happen 

 to be ftormy, or tempelluous, and the Sea troubled, there are abundance of them found caft upon 

 the Shores, lean and perifhed with Famine ; for they cannot, unlefs the Sea be calm, either pro- 

 ceed i'n their Journey, or filh for their living. In Auguft they all depart, nor are they feen any 

 where about our Coafts till the next Spring, 



The 



