122 
COMMON OR ARCTIC PUFFIN. 
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 28th of June, 1883.. 
On the 12th of August, our Captain, my friends George Shattuck 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 
Belleisle. 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, 
