THE PUFFIN.
Lays one grey-coloured egg marked with indistinct spots of pale brown; the nest is generally minus materials, so the egg is placed on the bare earth at the extremity of a burrow or fissure in a sea cliff. She often adopts a rabbit-burrow if it is situated in the immediate neighbourhood of the sea, and should the original owner or excavator be bold enough to dispute the right of proprietorship, this remarkable bird is not at all indisposed to do battle for possession of the situation her fancy has selected as a desirable place in which to carry out the duties imposed by Nature's law for the perpetuation of the species.
In the absence of a suitable cranny or rift in the rock, or the accommodation usually afforded by the presence of rabbits, the bird will set to work and excavate a hole sometimes as much as three feet deep, sticking to her task with such assiduity as often to endanger her safety from capture.
It seems, however, that she takes great care that whatever place is adopted for her nest it shall not be reached by even the highest tide. The nest of the Puffin is found in great numbers in the Isle of Wight, Puffin Island, Scilly Islands, Isle of Anglesea, and many islands on the coast of Scotland. The parent bird cannot be induced to leave her nest except by force, sitting very closely, and determinedly defending it with her singularly constructed and formidable beak, with which she bites most severely.
EGGS.
1. Ring Ouzel. 2. Kentish Plover. 3. Buzzard.
4. Cirl Bunting. 5. Hawfinch. 6. Stock Dove.
7. Dartford Warbler. 8. Pochard. 9. Black Redstart.