The common Puffin has the cheeks, chin and underparts white; upper parts and a band across the throat, blackish. Bill deep and thin, and colored with red, orange and yellow. They breed in large numbers on Bird Rock in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The nest is either among the natural crevices of the
[Illustration 024: Tufted Puffin. Puffin.] [Illustration: White.] [Illustration: left hand margin.]
rocks, or in burrows excavated in the ground by the birds. These burrows vary in length from two and a half to four or five feet. Except upon the positive knowledge of the absence of the bird, it is a hazardous thing to put the hand in one of these burrows for the bird can, and will nip the fingers, sometimes to the bone. They lay but a single egg, usually dull white and unmarked, but in some cases obscurely marked with reddish brown. Size 2.50 × 1.75. Data.--So. Labrador, June 23, 1884. Single egg laid at end of burrow in the ground. Collector, J. H. Jameson.
13a. LARGE-BILLED PUFFIN. _Fratercula arctica naumanni._
A more northerly subspecies of the last, inhabiting the Arctic region on the Atlantic side. The bird is somewhat larger but otherwise indistinguishable from the common species. The eggs are exactly the same or average a trifle larger. Size 2.55 × 1.80. Data.--Iceland, July 6, 1900. Single egg in hole under a rock. Collector, Chas. Jefferys.
14. HORNED PUFFIN. _Fratercula corniculata._
Range.--Pacific Coast from Alaska to British Columbia. The Horned Puffin differs from the common in that the blackish band across the throat extends upwards in a point to the bill. Their nesting habits are precisely the same as those of the preceding species. A single pure white egg is laid; the shell is slightly rougher than those of the others. Size 2.65 × 1.80. Data.--Round Is., Alaska, June 24, 1884. Single egg laid at end of burrow in ground; no nest. Collector, G. L. Kennedy.
15. RHINOCEROS AUKLET. _Cerorhinca monocerata._
Range.--Pacific Coast, breeding from British Columbia northward and wintering southward to Lower California.
The Rhinoceros Auklet or Horned Auk has a much smaller bill than the Puffins; in the summer this is adorned at the base by a horn from which it takes its name. There are also slender plumes from above and below the eyes. Unlike the Puffins, these birds sit upon their whole tarsus.