Cassell's book of birds; vol. 4Brehm, Alfred Edmund
Science
Cassell's book of birds; vol. 4
Brehm, Alfred Edmund
Birds
The MANX PUFFIN, or SHEARWATER (_Puffinus Anglorum_), is provided with
a beak of moderate length, but narrow and weak, the upper mandible of
which terminates in a sharp hook, which is received in a corresponding
depression of the lower jaw which bends down at its extremity. The plumage
of the adult bird is brownish black upon the upper parts of the body, and
pure white upon the under side; the sides of the neck are marked with
grey. The eye is brown, the beak grey, the foot greenish yellow. This
species is fourteen inches long, and from thirty to thirty-two inches
broad, the wing measures ten inches and the tail two inches and a half.
At present it is uncertain how far the range of the Manx Puffin extends,
for such is the similarity of colour in the different species, that they
are doubtless frequently mistaken for each other by incompetent observers;
we are, however, sure that it is met with as far south as the coasts of
France and Spain, and has occasionally been seen on the shores of the
Mediterranean. In Germany it is very common, and also makes its appearance
in Heligoland every year with considerable regularity. It is also certain
that this bird breeds in Iceland, the Hebrides, Shetland, Scilly, and
Faroe Islands. A small island near the Calf of Man, although now deserted,
was formerly inhabited by this bird in great numbers; it is also abundant
on the coast of South Wales, in spring; occasionally it visits Iceland
and the east coast of England. The Manx Puffin arrives in Great Britain
about March, and departs in August, only resorting to the land during the
breeding season, and selecting for the purpose of incubation small islands
or rocky shores away from any haunts of man. At the commencement of this
century the capture of the eggs and young afforded an important means of
support to the poor and hardy inhabitants of the islands they principally
frequent; and Mr. Low gives us the following account of the manner in
which they were obtained:--"A man sitting on the brink of the rock with a
coil of rope made of hair on his arm, will let his neighbour many fathoms
over the steepest rocks, such as would make other people shudder to look
at, and yet these men think no more of it than an airing; and though
few years pass without some or other of them perishing, yet this never
deters the survivors. It is really dreadful to see people let over a rock
several hundred fathoms high, with the deep below them, supported only
by the single arm of their comrades, who have nothing to rest themselves
against. Sometimes, indeed, both slip together. In August the young are
fit for taking, and are very much sought after as delicacies by those who
love good cheer. They are indeed very fat, but are nauseously rank and
fishy-tasted; however, they sell pretty high, and are lucrative to the
captors. The country people salt them down for winter provision, and boil
them with cabbage. They likewise take the old ones in March, but these are
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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