The Horn-billed Puffin 
watched him in a cauldron of contending waters which threatened to 
dismember him. Upon reappearing at (lie surface, the bird first wagged 
his tail sidewise, to remove superfluous moisture, apparently, then sat 
rigidly with the foreparts somewhat depressed in the water, the head and 
bill horizontal, and the points of the wings and the tail sticking up at an 
angle. If the Ashing was good, these rest periods lasted only two or three 
seconds, while the submergence lasted from twenty to thirty seconds in 
each case. In diving the bird pitched forward and kicked with the feet, 
which had remained, meanwhile, at right angles to the body, and at the 
same time he opened the wings part way, so as to catch the water with the 
flrst stroke. When pursued by the bird, its prey, apparently a tiny Ash 
of some sort, would almost invariably escape by rising. It was almost as 
invariably seized at the surface, whereupon the bird, without pausing 
for breath, instantly retired, turtle-fashion, to the depths. In this way 
the puffin might break water accidentally half a dozen times before it 
was ready to come up for its rest interval. 
“Santa Cruz Id., April 17, 1915. Ha! There is no sport like that of 
the bird photographer after all! By way of compensation for unrewarded 
efforts through a dull morning, the sun burned 
off the fog just after lunch and I went at 
it again. My first victim was a Red¬ 
breasted Merganser, surprised at 
close quarters as he was working 
at the very edge of the smashing 
waves. The next was the 
Horn-billed Puffin, who has 
adopted this stretch of coast, 
and whose fortunes I have 
been permitted to follow this 
week. He was in sight from 
camp when I started out this 
afternoon, but either he was 
wary or else the tide 
wasn’t yet to his liking, 
for he lay offshore some 
twenty fathoms and 
would not dive. Finally, 
in despair, I ostenta¬ 
tiously quitted my hiding 
place on the beach, re¬ 
turned to camp, and then 
. . 11*11 Taken on Destruction Island, off the coast of Washington Photo by the Author 
took a sneak over the hill a sulky hen 
15 21 
