106 P U F F I N .
of a great wave, we reached the first rocks, leaped out in an instant, and
held our boat, while the angry waters rolled back and left it on the land.
After securing the boat, we reached with a few steps the green sward,
and directly before us found abundance of Puffins. Some already alarmed
flew past us with the speed of an arrow, others stood erect at the entrance
of their burrows, while some more timid withdrew within their holes as
we advanced towards them. In the course of half an hour we obtained a
good number. The poor things seemed not at all aware of the effect of
guns, for they would fly straight towards us as often as in any other direction
; but after a while they became more knowing, and avoided us
with more care. We procured some eggs, and as no young ones were yet
to be found, we went off satisfied. The soil was so light, and so easily
dug, that many of the burrows extended to the depth of five or six feet,
although not more than a few inches below the surface, and some of the
poor birds underwent a temporary imprisonment in consequence of the
ground giving way under our weight. The whole island was perforated
like a rabbit-warren, and every hole had its entrance placed due south, a
circumstance which allowed the birds to emerge in our sight almost all at
once, presenting a spectacle highly gratifying to us all. Our visit to this
island took place on the 28th of June 1833.
On the 12th of August, the day after my son procured the two Jerfalcons
mentioned in the second volume of this work, our Captain, my
friends GEORGE SHATTUCK and WILLIAM INGALLS, with four sailors,
and another boat in company, went on a visit to " Perroket Island," distant
about two miles from the harbour of Bras d'Or. The place is known
to all the cod-fishers, and is celebrated for the number of Puffins that annually
breed there. As we rowed towards it, although we found the water
literally covered with thousands of these birds, the number that flew over
and around the green island seemed much greater, insomuch that one might
have imagined half the Puffins in the world had assembled there. This farfamed
isle is of considerable extent, its shores are guarded by numberless
blocks of rock, and within a few yards of it the water is several fathoms in
depth. The ground rises in the form of an amphitheatre to the height of
about seventy feet, the greatest length being from north to south, and its
southern extremity fronting the Streight of Belleisle. For every burrow in
the island previously visited by us there seemed to be a hundred here, on
every crag or stone stood a Puffin, at the entrance of each hole another,
and yet the sea was covered and the air filled by them. I had two double-
P U F F I N . 107
barrelled guns and two sailors to assist me; and I shot for one hour by
my watch, always firing at a single bird on wing. How many Puffins I
killed in that time I take the liberty of leaving you to guess.
The burrows were all inhabited by young birds, of different ages and
sizes, and clouds of Puffins flew over our heads, each individual holding
a " lint" by the head. This fish, which measures four or five inches in
length, and is of a very slender form, with a beautiful silvery hue, existed
in vast shoals in the deep water around the island. The speed with
which the birds flew made the fish incline by the side of their neck.
While flying the Puffins emitted a loud croaking noise, but they never
dropped the fish, and many of them, when brought down by a shot, still
held their prey fast. I observed with concern the extraordinary affection
manifested by these birds towards each other; for whenever one fell dead
or wounded on the water, its mate or a stranger immediately alighted by
its side, swam round it, pushed it with its bill as if to urge it to fly or
dive, and seldom would leave it until an oar was raised to knock it on
the head, when at last, aware of the danger, it would plunge below in an
instant. Those which fell wounded immediately ran with speed to some
hole, and dived into it, on which no further effort was made to secure
them. Those which happened to be caught alive in the hand bit most
severely, and scratched with their claws at such a rate that we were
glad to let them escape. The burrows here communicated in various
ways with each other, so that the whole island was perforated as if by
a multitude of subterranean labyrinths, over which one could not run
without the risk of falling at almost every step. The voices of the young
sounded beneath our feet like voices from the grave, and the stench was
extremely disagreeable, so that as soon as our boats were filled with birds
we were glad to get away.
During the whole of our visit, the birds never left the place, but constantly
attended to their avocations. Here one would rise from beneath
our feet, there, within a few yards of us, another would alight with a fish,
and dive into its burrow, or feed the young that stood waiting at the entrance.
The young birds were far from being friendly towards each
other, and those which we carried with us kept continually fighting so
long as we kept them alive. They used their yet extremely small and
slender bills with great courage and pertinacity, and their cries resembled
the waitings of young whelps. The smaller individuals were fed by the
parents by regurgitation, or received little pieces of fish which were placed