PUFFIN. 



FRATERCULA ARCTIC A (Linn.). 



Alca arctica, Linn. S. N. i. p. 211 (1766). 

 Lunda arctica, Naum. xii. p. 577. 

 Mormon arcticus, Macg. v. p. 365. 



Fratercula arctica, Hewitson, ii. p. 466 ; Yarr. ed. 4, iv. 

 p. 90; Dresser, viii. p. 599. 



Macareux, French ; arktische Lund, German ; Frailecillo 

 (Graells), Spanish; Frare, Sit (Vayreda), Catalan. 



The Puffin breeds in enormous numbers on many 

 parts of the rocky coasts of the three kingdoms, laying 

 its solitary egg in burrows either made by itself or by 

 rabbits at the summit or in the face of sea-cliffs. These 

 birds come to their breeding-places in March and April, 

 but do not lay before May, and as soon as the young 

 are fully fledged and able to provide for themselves the 

 whole colonies leave their summer-quarters, and it is 

 exceptional to meet with these birds in any number 

 on or even near the English coasts during the winter 

 months. Endless instances of the occurrence of the 

 Puffin far inland are on record : one of the most remark- 

 able, in my experience, being that of an adult male of 

 this species which flew through an open window of an 

 upper room in Brook Street, Grosvenor Square, on 

 May 16th, 1887, and is now stuffed in my possession. 

 The beak of the Puffin undergoes a curious change, on 

 which subject I cannot do better than quote the concise 

 account given by Mr. Seebohm, in his ' History of 

 British Birds,' as follows : — "After the autumnal moult 

 the sheath of the basal half of the bill is cast, as are also 

 the warty red skin round the gape and the appendages 

 above and below the eye." 



