The Tufted Puffin 
No. 298 
Tufted Puffin 
A. O. U. No. 12. Lunda cirrhata (Pallas). 
Synonym.— Sea Parrot. 
Description. — Adult in breeding plumage: Sides of head, narrowly, extreme 
forehead and chin white; the area continued backward over and behind eye in length¬ 
ened, undulating plume-tuft of close-set, silken feathers, changing posteriorly to deep 
straw-yellow; general color of remaining plumage black, bluish and glossy above, sooty 
brownish below, a little lighter and grayer on belly; wings and tail black, browning on 
inner webs; lining of wings smoky gray. Bill highly compressed, only one-third as wide 
as depth at base of nostril; outline of culmen doubly convex, the distal portion of upper 
mandible marked by two or three curved grooves convex backward; distal portion of 
bill vermilion, basal plates yellowish horn-color; iris horn-color to white; eye-ring ver¬ 
milion; feet vermilion with black nails. Adult after the breeding season: Without 
crests; lighter, sooty-gray, on belly; white of face replaced by dusky. Bill smaller and 
dark-colored basally, seven deciduous plates having been shed; iris “pale blue”; feet 
“pale salmon flesh-color.” Immature: Like adults in winter, but bill smaller and 
weaker, without grooves and saddled at base with soft dark skin. Downy young: 
Nearly uniform slaty black; first feathers on belly pure white. Bill black with out¬ 
cropping of dull red near the middle. Length of adult: 381-406.4 (15.00-16.00); wing 
196.9 (7.75); tail 69.9 (2.75); tarsus 33 (1.30); bill (chord of culmen) 61 (2.40); greatest 
depth of bill 48.3 (1.90). 
Recognition Marks. —Appearing crow size by reason of relatively short tail; 
black plumage with white face and tufts and large vermilion bill unmistakable in 
breeding plumage; size and compressed shape of bill still distinctive in winter. 
Nesting. — Egg: Single, white, often marked obscurely with pale brown and 
violet-gray; of variable shape, sometimes nearly equal-ended, sometimes pointed at 
one end, something like a Murre’s; laid at end of burrow in earth-bank or, more rarely, 
in crevice of rock, or in shelter of brush. Av. size 72 x 49.2 (2.83 x 1.94); index 70. 
Season: April-July. 
General Range. —Coasts and islands of the northern Pacific Ocean and Bering 
Sea with adjacent portions of the Arctic Ocean. Breeds from Cape Lisburne, Alaska, 
and Koliutschin Bay, Siberia, to the Pribilov, Aleutian, and Commander Islands, and 
south along the Pacific Coast of America to California. Ranges south in winter to 
Lower California. 
Distribution in California. —Common resident upon the ocean, and breeding 
south upon suitable soil-topped islets to the northern islands of the Santa Barbara 
group. Abundant on the Farallons. Still breeds sparingly on Prince Islet and Anacapa 
Island, but is no longer found upon Santa Barbara Island, its southernmost recorded 
breeding station. Occurs a little further south in winter, but usually puts out to sea at 
that season. 
Authorities.—Newberry ( Mormon cirrhatus), Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv., vol. vi., 
1857, p. no (Farallon Ids.); Stejneger, U. S. Nat. Mus., Bull. no. 29, 1885, p. 43, pis. 1, 2 
(Commander Ids.; habits, bill structure and color, etc.); IF. E. Bryant, Proc. Calif. 
Acad. Sci., ser. 2, i., 1888, p. 27 (Farallon Ids.; desc. habits, nest and eggs, etc.); Howell, 
Pac. Coast Avifauna, no. 12, 1917, p. 18 (s. Calif, ids.; habits, occurrence, etc.). 
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