The Bird Book: Illustrating in natural colors more than seven hundred North American birds; also several hundred photographs of their nests and eggs. — John Shaqi
The Bird Book: Illustrating in natural colors more than seven hundred North American birds; also several hundred photographs of their nests and eggs.Reed, Chester A. (Chester Albert)
Science
The Bird Book: Illustrating in natural colors more than seven hundred North American birds; also several hundred photographs of their nests and eggs.
Reed, Chester A. (Chester Albert)
Birds -- North America
13. PUFFIN. _Fratercula arctica arctica._
Range.--North Atlantic Coast, breeding from the Bay of Fundy northward.
Winters from breeding range along the New England Coast.
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.]
Page 23
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.
They nest on islands of the North Pacific Coast from Vancouver
northward. A single egg is laid in crevices among the rocks or in
burrows in the ground. It is similar both in size and shape to that of
the Puffins, but is often quite heavily blotched with brown. Size 2.70 ×
1.80. Data.--Unak Is., Alaska, June 30, 1900. Egg laid in a fissure of
the rocks; no nest. Collector, F. Weston.
[Illustration 025: White.]
[Illustration: right hand margin.]
Page 24
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