The Tufted Puffin 
Taken on the S. E. Farallon Photo by the Author 
TAKING OFF 
Later the Puffins settle upon the surface of the water until the sea 
is black with them. Each bird dives, if only for a moment, upon the 
instant of alighting; and it may be that they find it difficult to effect this 
exchange of medium without a spill. Rising also requires an effort, des¬ 
perate, if the sea is smooth, but easier in proportion to the increasing 
strength of the wind. Once the invader has left, or else secreted himself, 
the Puffins return rapidly to reclaim the cooling eggs, or to take up the 
sober vigil at the burrow’s mouth. Each alights with uplifted wings 
held well back. The wings are also lifted from time to time as though 
to rest them, and they are brought into requisition as balancers whenever 
the bird attempts to walk. Be the going ever so easy, the Puffin shifts 
about as gingerly as the slack-wire performer. 
A Puffin’s bill is so remarkable a creation that a glance at its structure 
may not be out of place; though as to what may be the necessity of this 
powerful crushing organ we are frankly ignorant. The bird is not a 
shallow-water feeder, and so has no need to reduce bivalves. Moreover, 
in the breeding season it seems to subsist upon small fish, especially the 
sand launee (Ammodytes personatus Girard), which are easily taken by 
the slender-billed Murre. And, if the bill were designed to cope with 
some stubborn viand of the middle sea, why reduce its size in winter? 
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