PUF PUG 
difP.cult ; but, when once on the wing, few birds 
fly either longer or with more ftrength. 
About the latter end of March, or beginning 
of April, a few of thefe birds mal<e their appear- 
ance in Britain; and, afcer flaying a few days, as 
if to examine their former haunts, they difappear. 
About the beginning of May, they return, ac- 
companied by a whole army of their compa- 
nions: but, if the feafon happens to prove ftormy 
and tempeituous, and the fea to be troubled, the 
unfortunate voyagers undergo incredible hard- 
iliips ; and are found caft away on the fhores by 
hundreds, emaciated, and perifhed through fa- 
mine. It is moft probable, therefore, that this 
voyage is performed more on the water than in 
the air; and that, as they cannot fifh during ftormy 
weather, their ftrength is exhaufted before they 
can arrive at their wiftied-for harbour. 
When the Puffin prepares for breeding, which 
always happens a few days after it's arrival, it 
fcrapes a hole in the ground not far from the 
fhore; and after it has flightly penetrated the 
earth, it throws icfelf on it's back, and with it's 
bill and claws thus burrows inward, till it has dug 
a hole, having feveral windings and turnings, 
from eight to ten feet in depth. It takes parti- 
cular care to dig under a ftone, where it naturally 
promifes itfelf the greateft fecurity; and in this 
fortified retreat it lays one egg, which (though 
the bird itfelf is not much larger than a pigeon) 
is equal in fize to that of a hen. 
The young one being excluded, the induftry of 
the parent can only be equalled by her own rage. 
Few birds or beafts will venture to attack thefe 
fowls in their retreats. When the great fea-raven, 
as Jacobfon informs us, comes to ravifti their 
young, the Puffins boldly oppofe him. Their 
meeting indeed produces a fingular kind of com- 
bat: as foon as the raven approaches, the Puffin 
feizes him by the throat v/ith it's beak, and ftick- 
ing it's claws into his breaft, makes the raven 
deiirous of efcaping; but the little bird, tenacious 
of it's hold, never quits him till they both drop 
into the fea; which circumftance proves fatal to 
the latter. However, the raven is often the con- 
queror; and when fortunate enough to furprife 
the Puffin at the bottom of it's hole, both the pa- 
rent and the family become his prey. 
But whatever depredations may be committed 
on the Puffan by other anin^.als, if we confider it's 
own condufl in a moral point of viev/, ir amply 
deferves them. Near the Ifleof Angleley, in an 
illct called Prieftholm, the number of thefe birds 
is immenfe; and in another iflet, called the Calf 
of Man, birds of this kind, but of a different fpe- 
cies, are feen in great abundance. In both 
places, numbers of rabbits have their refidence; 
but the Puffins, unv/iliino; to be at the trouble of 
digging holes when that labour can be faved, dif- 
poffefs the rabbits, and probably deftroy their 
young; and in thefe difpeopled retreats the young 
Puffins being found in great numbers, become a 
very valuable acquifition to the natives. When 
arrived at their full grov/th, they are either dug 
out, or drawn from their holes by means of 
hooked fticks; and their fleffi, though exceffively 
rank, v/hen pickled and prcferved with fpices, is 
admired by all fuch as relifn favoury and high- 
feafoned food. Formerly (v/e are told) their flefh 
was allowed by the Church on certain days in 
X-^nt ; they were alio at that feafon taken by means 
of ferrets, as rabbits now are caught: at prefenr. 
however, they are taken in the manner already de- 
fcribed; and, when feized, make a very difagree- 
ablc noife, refembling the efforts of a dum,b per- 
fon to fpeak. Indeed, the notes of all marine 
birds are extremely harfli and inharm^onious; yet 
thofe who are captivated with the charms of na- 
ture may enjoy a confiderable fiiare of pleafufc 
from liftening to the various fcreams of the fea- 
thered tribes, and the folemn roar of the unceafing 
waves. The lharp voice of the fea-gulls, the re- 
iterated chatter of the guillemots, the loud note 
of the auks, the fcream of the herons, and the pe- 
riodical croak of the cormorants, joined vv'ith the 
wild fcenery of furrounding objefts, afford that 
fpecies of pleafure in a high degree, which arifes 
from gloomy grandeur and varying novelty. 
The conftant depredations which thefe birds 
annually fuffer, does not feem in the leaft to in- 
timidate them, or drive them away: on the con- 
trary, we are told that the neft of the Puffin muft 
be robbed, otherwife the old ones will breed in it 
no longer. All birds of this kind lay but one 
egg; yet, if that be removed, they will lav ano- 
ther, and a third : thofe, however, whofe nefis have 
been thus deftroyed, are often too late in bringing 
up their young; which, if not fledged in time for 
migration when all the reft depart, are left at land 
to fhift for themfelves. In Auguft the whole 
tribe is obferved to take leave of their fummer re- 
fidence; nor are they feen any more till the return 
of fpring. It is probable that they direft their 
courfe to more fouthern regions, as our mariners 
frequently obferve myriads of water-fowl on their 
return, ulually advancing to the north. Indeed, 
the coldeft countries feem to be their moft fa- 
voured retreats; and the number of water-fowl is 
much greater in thofe frigid regions than in the 
warmer climates near the line. The great quan- 
tity of oil in their bodies ferves as a defence againft 
the cold, and preferves them in vigour againft it's 
feverity; btit the fame provifion of oil is rather 
detrimental in warm countries, as it turns rancid, 
and many of them die of diftempers arifing from 
putrefaftion. In general, however, water-fowl 
can be properly faid to be of no climate, the ele- 
ment on which they live being their proper refi- 
dence. They necefl"arily fpend a few months of 
fummer on land, in order to bring up their young; 
but the reft of their time is probably wafted in 
migrations, or near fome unfrequented coafts, 
where abundance of fifh invites their ftay, and 
fupplies their every want. 
PUFFINET. An appellation by which fome 
naturalifts exprefs the columiba Greenlandica, or 
the Greenland turdc-dove. This bird is common 
on the northern coafts: it is entirely black, ex- 
cept two fmall fpots on it's head; but fom.e pre- 
tend, though without good authority, that it be- 
comes white in winter. 
PUGNAX AVIS. A bird commonly known 
in England by the name of the ruffe; the female 
of which is called the reeve. It receives it's La- 
tin name from it's quarrelfome difpofition, the 
males being frequently obferved to fight Vv'ith each 
other. 
PUGNITIUS. An appellation by which fome 
authors exprefs the ftickle-back. See Stickle- 
back. 
PUGNITIUS LONGUS. A Weft-Indian 
fifli, in many refpefts refembling the European 
pugnitii. It is about the length of a man's finger, 
and nearly of the fame thicknefs: the ficin is 
fmooth ; 
