THE LIVING WORLD. 
321 
The Marmots and Todies of the West Indies, which are closely related to 
the bee-eaters, are also burrowers, digging holes like the sand-marten in sandy 
banks, but usually selecting dry ravines, and rarely run their tunnels a greater 
distance than six inches, in which four pearly white eggs are laid. 
The Puffin or Mask Bird (Fratercula arctica ), found plentifully along the 
northeast coast and on many islands, is a true burrower, though exercising its 
power for excavating only when necessity so compels. 
As is the custom with most diving birds, the puffin lays only one egg, and 
always deposits it in some deep burrow. If possible, the bird takes advantage 
of a tunnel already excavated, such as that of the rabbit, and “ squats ” upon 
another’s territory, just as the Coquimbo owl takes possession of the excavations 
made by the prairie dog. The rabbit does not allow its dominion to be usurped 
without remonstrance, and accordingly the bird and the beast engage in fierce 
conflict before the matter is settled. Almost invariably the puffin wins the day, 
its powerful beak and determined courage being more than a match for the 
superior size of its antagonist. When it is unable 
to obtain a ready-made habitation, it sets to work on 
its own account, and excavates tunnels of consider¬ 
able dimensions. 
The Feroe Islands are notable haunts of the 
puffin , because the soil, which is in many places soft 
and easily worked, is favorable for its excavations. 
The male is the principal excavator, though he is 
assisted by the female; and so intent is the bird 
upon its work, that it may be captured by hand, by 
thrusting the arm into the burrow. The average 
length of the tunnel is about three feet and is seldom 
straight, taking a more or less curved form, and be¬ 
ing furnished with a second entrance. No nest of 
any kind is used, but the egg is laid on the earth 
at the end of the burrow, so that, although it is 
at first beautifully white, it becomes in a short time ^ 
stained so deeply that it can seldom be restored to Arctica). crab-diver ( Uria troiie). 
its primitive purity. 
So deeply do the burrows run, that when a passenger is walking near the 
edge of the precipice upon which the puffins breed, he can hear the old birds 
grunting and chattering below his feet, disturbed by the footfalls above them. 
The young puffin has many foes that endeavor to seize it before the bill has 
attained its full proportions and defensive powers. The parent birds, however, 
bravely defend their progeny, and have been known, as a last resource, to grasp 
the invader in its beak and hurl themselves and foe into the sea. Once among 
the waves, the puffin has the advantage, for it is an excellent swimmer and 
diver, finding its food among the swift fishes which it catches with facility. 
Indeed, a puffin may be frequently seen with a half-dozen small fishes in its 
mouth’ at one time, all arranged in a row with the tails projecting. 
The bill of the puffin is so large and unsightly that the name mask-bird is not 
inappropriate, rendered more so by the singular fact that it is shed each year. 
There are many other birds which pass a semi-burrowing life, making 
their nests in hollows already excavated, and either using them without adap 
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