GUILLEMOT-PETREL-PUFFIN. 



US 



the feathered rank, said Nuttall, and almost numbered with the 

 amphibious monsters of the deep, the Auk seems condemned to 

 dwell alone in those desolate and forsaken regions of the earth. 

 But it was an unrivalled diver, and swam with great velocity. One 

 chased by Mr. Bullock, among the Northern Isles, left a six-oared 

 boat far behind. It was undoubtedly a match for the Oxfords. It 

 was finally shot, however, and is now in the British Museum. " It 

 is observed by seamen," wrote Buffon a hundred years ago, " that 

 it is never seen out of soundings, so that its appearance serves as 

 an infallible direction to the land." It fed on fishes and marine 

 plants, and laid, either in the clefts of the rocks or in deep bur- 

 rows, a solitary egg, five inches long, with curious markings re- 

 sembling Chinese characters. The only noise it was known to 

 utter was a gurgling sound. We know of no changes on our 

 northern coast sufficient to affect the conditions necessary to the 

 existence of this oceanic bird. It has not been hunted down like 

 the Dodo and Dinornis. The numerous bones on the shores of 

 Greenland, Newfoundland, Iceland, and Norway, attest its former 

 abundance ; but within the last century it has gradually become 

 more and more scarce, and finally extinct. There is no better 

 physical reason why some species perish, than why man does not 

 live forever. We can only say with Buffon, " it died out because 

 time fought against it." 



Common op Foolish Guillemot, Murre. (Urza troile.') 



Fig. 2. 



This species is a common inhabitant of the high northern lati- 

 tudes of both hemispheres. "From the numbers that congre- 

 gate," observes Farrell, " and the bustle apparent among them, 

 confusion of interests might be expected ; but, on the contrary, it 

 will be found that the Guillemots occupy one station or line of 

 ledges on the rocks, the Razor-bills another, and the Puffins a 

 third, Kittiwake Gulls a fourth, while the most inaccessible pin- 

 nacles seem to be left for the use of the lesser Black-backed and 

 Herring Gulls. Two distinct species scarcely ever breed close by 

 the side of each other." 



The egg is laid on a ledge or hollow of the bare rock ; it is 

 pear-shaped, about three inches and a quarter long, of a bluish 

 green, or yellowish green color, with streaks and blotches of brown 

 or black; sometimes the eggs are plain white or green. Great 

 numbers of these eggs are collected by men who descend from the 

 cliff above by means of ropes. The eggs are hatched in about a 

 month. The young are fed for a short time on the rocks by their 

 parents, after which they accompany them to the sea. In what 

 manner they descend seems to be a problem. Mr. Waterton was 

 assured by the men about Flambof ough Head that when the young 

 Guillemot gets to a certain size, it manages to climb on the back 

 of the old bird, which conveys it down to the ocean ; and Mr. 

 Farrell, in support of this statement, assures us that he has seen, 

 at the base of very high cliffs in the Isle of Wight, the young of 

 Razor-bills and Guillemots " so small that they could not have 

 made the descent by themselves from the lofty site of their birth- 

 place without destruction ; yet these little birds knew perfectly well 

 how to take care of themselves, and, at the approach of a boat, 

 would swim away and dive like so many Dabchicks." About 

 August, old and young leave the rocks and take to open water. 

 Audubon gives the following curious description of these birds on 

 a group of rocks, which consist of several low islands, destitute of 

 vegetation, and at no great height from the water. " Here thou- 

 sands of Guillemots annually assemble at the beginning of May, 

 to deposit each its single egg and raise its young. As you ap- 

 proach these islands, the air becomes darkened with the multitudes 

 of these birds that fly about. Every square foot of the ground 

 seems to be occupied by a Guillemot, planted erect, as it were, on 

 the granite rock, but carefully warming its cherished egg. All 



look toward the south, and if you are fronting them, the snowy- 

 white of their bodies produces a remarkable effect, for the birds at 

 some distance look as if destitute of head, so much does that part 

 assimilate with the dark hue of the rocks on which they stand. On 

 the other hand, if you approach them in the rear, the isle appears 

 as if covered with a black pall." This species is seventeen inches 

 and a half long, and from twenty-seven to twenty-eight broad ; the 

 wing measures three inches, and the tail two and a half. 



Giant Petrel, or Giant Fulmar, Mother Carey's Geese. (Procellarta 



gigantea.) 



Fig. 3- 



■ This is the largest of the Petrels, and may be regarded as hold- 

 ing a position intermediate between the Albatross and the Storm 

 Petrels. The length of this species is about two feet eight inches, 

 and the spread of the wings from four feet and a half to five feet. 

 Its migrations extend over the temperate and antarctic zones of 

 the southern hemisphere. Nuttall says: "The Giant Petrels, 

 though so infatuated, probably in the breeding season, as to submit 

 to death rather than abandon their resorts and young, are at other 

 times sufficiently active and adventurous, being seen to assemble 

 in great numbers on the approach of a sto»m, sailing majestically 

 with wide expanded and scarcely moving wings close to the sur- 

 face of the water, scanning the agitated bosom of the deep in quest 

 of some fish or other object of prey raised toward the surface by 

 the foaming billows. They also feed, when opportunity offers, on 

 the dead bodies of seals or birds, and are themselves, by sailors, 

 considered as good food." Pennant thinks it probable that they 

 migrate with the Albatross into the southern Hemisphere to breed. 



Sea Parrot, Common Puffin, or Coulterneb. {F^atercula arcticus.) 



Fig. 4- 



The cold and inclement regions of the whole northern hemis- 

 phere is the general resort of this species. Its migrations, in win- 

 ter, extend as far south as the middle states. " The Puffins," says 

 Dr. Brehm, " are eminently aquatic birds, only visiting the land 

 for the purpose of hatching and rearing their young ; nevertheless 

 they often approach the shore or visit harbors on the coast. They 

 are generally met with in little flocks consisting of from eight to 

 twenty individuals, and employed in fishing for food. 



" During the breeding season, however, they assemble in such 

 vast numbers as almost to cover the rocks on which they build. 

 Their food consists principally of fishes and molluscous animals, 

 which are invariably caught by diving. The Puffins are distin- 

 guishable from all their allies by the impetuosity of their flight. 

 Sometimes they may be seen swimming quietly upon the water 

 and diving into the advancing waves ; generally, however, they 

 are observed flying, and not only shooting over but dashing through 

 them. With outstretched wings they plunge into the billows, urg- 

 ing their career with rapid strokes, twisting and turning in the 

 water, not only sideways, but completely round, so that sometimes 

 the dark-colored back, sometimes the shining white under the sur- 

 face becomes visible ; now they seem to follow the outline of the 

 wave, climbing upon one side of it, and plunging down the other, 

 as they suddenly emerge from the water, and, after rising ten or 

 twelve feet into the air, once more plunge obliquely into the sea, 

 when they again dive, rowing themselves along with feet and 

 wings till, after making their way to a considerable distance, they 

 come up into the air, apparently simply to take breath, and forth- 

 with disappear in the same manner. The interest attaching to this 

 spectacle is considerably increased from the circumstance of so 

 many of the birds joining in these active evolutions ; just as one 

 plunges beneath the surface another emerges, and as they are all 



