FRATERCULA, Briss. Vieil. MoumoN, Illig. Tem. ALCA, Lin. &C. PUFFIN.
Bill shorter than the head, deeper than long, and much compressed; both. mandibles arched, transversely chan nelled, and notched towards the tip, the upper sharp-ridg ed, and elevated above the level of the skull ; nostrils lateral, marginal, linear, naked, almost wholly concealed by a large naked membrane ; legs short, placed far be hind, furnished with only three toes, all directed forwards and webbed, claws much hooked ; wings short. The birds of this family are nearly allied to the guillemots and the penguins; with the last of which they have been generally classed. Though less addicted to fly than the former, they are very seldom found on land, and they graze the surface of the sea with considerable swiftness.
arctica, Vieil. Mormon fratercula, Tem. Alca arctica, Lin. Sze. Puffin, Puffin Auk, or Labrador Auk, Prov. Greenland Parrot, Tommy, Tammine, Bass Cock, Ailsa Cock, Sea Parrot, Cockandy, Pone, Bourger, Coulterneb, Ste. Bill compressed, two edged, upper man dible with three grooves, the under with two, orbits and temples white, upper eyelid daggered, or Furnished with a pointed callus. The mature male and female, both in their winter and summer dress, have the crown of the head, all the upper parts, and a broad collar, deep, and glossy black, the quill feathers dusky brown, the breast, belly, and lower parts, pure white. Length about twelve inches and a half, extent of wing twenty-one inches, weight about twelve ounces. The bill, which imparts such an appearance of novelty to this bird, varies consi derably, according to its age; for, in the first year, it is small, weak, destitute of any furrow, and dusky ; in the second year, it is larger, stronger, of a paler colour, and discovers a faint vestige of a furrow near the base; but in the third, and more advanced years, it exhibits great strength and vivid colours.
These birds inhabit, in vast flocks, the northern seas of Europe, Asia, and America. They are very common about the coast of Spitzbergen, but are rarely met with at any great distance from land. In their southward pro
gress, they have been found about Belleisle, in the Gulf of Gascony. As they take flight with great difficulty, they are sometimes run down by boats, or driven ashore, when suddenly caught in a gust of wind; but they can fly very well when once they get wind. They appear in many parts of our rocky coasts, about the middle of April, and commence breeding towards the middle of May. On the Dover cliffs, and other such places, they deposit their single white egg in the holes and crevices; but, in other situations, they burrow, like rabbits, if the soil is light, or more frequently, take possession of a rabbit's hole, and lay their egg some feet under ground. On St. Margaret's Island, off St. David's, the fishermen put their hands into the holes, and the puffins seize them so obstinately, that they allow themselves to be drawn out. The Orcadians drag them out with a stick, to the end of which is attach ed an iron hook. The flesh of the old bird is both rank and fishy, hut the young ones, which are seized before they are quite fledged, when pickled and preserved with spices, are much relished by some, and are allowed to be eaten, in Roman Catholic countries, during Lent. In some places they are taken with ferrets. The males, as well as females, perform the office of sitting, relieving each other when they go to feed. The young are hatch ed in the beginning of July, and the re-migration of the species takes place about the middle of August, when none remain behind, except the unfledged young of the latter hatches. In one part of Akaroe, a small island off Iceland, puffins breed in vast numbers, forming holes in the mould, three or four feet beneath the surface. Their principal food consists of shrimps, and a minute species of helix ; but they also eat small fish, and particularly sprats. The Icelanders use their flesh for bait, and it is alleged that the cod prefers it to any thing else.