place from the 5th to the 10th of April; but quit the place
again, and return, twice or thrice before they fettle to burrow,
which they do the firlt week in May, when many of them dil-
lodge the Rabbits from their holes, by which they fave themfelves
the trouble of forming one of their own : in the laft cafe, they are
fo intent on what they are about, as to fuffer themfelves to be
taken by the hand. It has been obierved that this talk falls
chiefly to the lhare of the males, and that thefe laft alfo affift
in incubation: this has been proved on difleftion. The female
lays one white e g g : the young are hatched the beginning of July :
and about the eleventh of Auguft they all go off, to a Angle bird,
and fo completely as to defert the young ones that are late
hatched; leaving them a prey to the Peregrine Falcon, who watches
at the mouth of the holes for them as they, through hunger, are
compelled to come out. Notwithftanding the negleft of the
young at this time, no bird is more attentive to them in general,
as they will fuffer themfelves to be taken by the hand, and ufe
every means of defence in their power to fave them j and, if laid
hold of by the wings, will give themfelves moft cruel bites on
any part of the body they can reach, as if actuated by defpair i
and when releafed, inftead of flying away, will often hurry again
into the burrow to their young*.
The food of thefe birds is fprats, the fmaller kind of crabs*
and fea-weeds: they are excellively rank, yet the young are pre-
ferved with fpices, and pickled, and by fome people much admired].
# Ar8. Zoo/.
+ Are potted at Si, Kilda and elfewhere, and Tent to London as rarities. Tho
bones are taken out, and the fle(h wrapped in the Ikin ; are eaten with vinegar,
and tafte like baked Herring,
They
dk
They are alfo common in Ireland-, on the ifland Sherries, three
leagues N. N. W. of Holyhead -, and in the S. Stack, near Holy-
head, they breed in plenty*. Inhabit Iceland and Greenland-, and
breed in the extreme part of the iflands, efpecially on the weft
part of Difco, and the ifland Orpikjauk. Found in the Feme ifles,
and there called Lunda. In the Farn Ifles called Coulter-neb, from
the fhape of the bill : it goes alfo by various other names; fuch
as Guldenhead, Bottle-nofe, and Helegug, in Wales -, at Scarborough
Mullet -, and Cornwall, Pope wt!
In America are faid to frequent Carolina in winter; and have-
been met with in Sandwich Sound by our late voyagers : the natives
ornament the fore parts and collar of their Seal-ßin jackets
with the beaks of them ; and thofe of Aoonalafhka wear gowns of
their fkins, along with thofe of other birds.
On the coaft of Kamtfchatka and the Kurilfchi iflands they are
common, even on the Penfchinfii Bay, almoft as far as Ochotka:
the nations of the two firft wear the bills about their necks
fattened to ftraps; and, according to the fuperftition of thefe
people, their Shaman or Priefl rauft put them on with a proper
ceremony, in order to procure good fortune J.
I ^E N G T H fixteen inches. The bill two inches long, much
of the fame colour with the laft, but not fo deep at the
bafe : crown of the head, as far as the nape, afli-colour: fides of
* *' Which come in a furprifing manner, in a flock, in the compafs of a night;
and, when their feafon comet, depart in the fame manner.”— Bibl. toptg. Brit.
N° 10. p. 10.
f Will. Or». I Hiß. Kamtfcb.
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