104 COMMON AMERICAN GULL.
purplish-grey ; claws brownish-black. The general colour of the plumage
is dull white, mottled with greyish-brown beneath, on the back with
large brownish-black spots, the dark markings being central. Anterior
to the eye is a crescent of greyish-black. The outer primary quills are
black, the two first without white at the ends, the rest margined round
the ends with that colour. The abdominal and tibial feathers are white;
the lower and upper tail-coverts white, with brown spots.
Length to end of tail 18|, to end of wings 20£, extent of wings 441 ;
tarsus 2, middle toe 1T
3
2 , its claws T%. Weight 1 lb. 3 ounces.
On a rocky island on the coast of Labrador, where this bird was
breeding in great numbers, a comparatively small number of individuals
only had the bill marked with the black ring, the others, although precisely
similar in other respects, wanted that mark. This bird although
in many respects precisely similar to that which is usually named Larua
canus in Europe, differs greatly in the size of the bill, which even in
young birds is much deeper than in the oldest individuals of that species.
: hue,
( 105 )
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the puffin.
MORMON ARCTICUS, ILLIGER.
PLATE CCXIII. MALE AND FEMALE.
THE Sea Parrot, as this bird is usually called on the eastern coasts
of the United States, as well as by the fishermen of Newfoundland and
Labrador, sometimes proceeds as far south as the entrance of the River
Savannah in Georgia, where I saw a good number in the winter of
1 8 3 1 - 3 2 . It is by no means, however, common with this species to
extend its southward migrations so far, and I suspect it does so only
in very severe weather. It is never plentiful off Long Island, but becomes
more abundant the farther you proceed eastward, until you reach
the entrance to the Bay of Fundy, where it is quite common, and on the
Islands of which many breed, although not one perhaps now for a hundred
that bred there twenty years ago. Those which proceed farther north
leave the United States about the middle of April, and move along the
coast, none ever crossing over the land to any extent. On my voyage
to Labrador I observed Puffins every day; but although we reached
that country in the early part of June, none had then begun to breed.
As we approached the shores of that inhospitable land, we every now
and then saw them around the vessel, now floating on the swelling wave,
now disappearing under the bow, diving with the swiftness of thought,
and sometimes rising on wing and flying swiftly, but low, over the sea.
The nearer we approached the coast the more abundant did we find the
Puffins, and sometimes they were so numerous as actually to cover the
water to the extent of half an acre or more. At first we paid little attention
to them, but as soon as I became aware that they had begun to breed,
I commenced an investigation, of which I now proceed to lay before you
the result.
The first breeding place which I and my party visited was a small
island, a few acres in extent, and pleasant to the eye, on account of the
thick growth of green grass with which it was covered. The shores were
exceedingly rugged, the sea ran high, and it required all the good management
of our captain to effect a safe landing, which, however, was at
length accomplished at a propitious moment, when, borne on the summit