The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1910-10-20

of skis at the inner angle o.
the eye that under the name O.
the third eyelid makes the Mongoliar
eye such a distinctive feature of his
human representative. This setting
OF the eye in an cblique chink gives
the putin that fixed. quizzical express
sion which has led most observers tC
call it a quaint-looking bird. but which
to me irresistibly calls to mind the
Chinaman's bland looking face that
like a mask, gives no sign of the work
ing of the inner mind.
1t is a disappointment. after seeing
your first putin at close quarters at his
home in puffln-town, TO turn up his
description in any bird-book and find
after all the meticulous description OF
his feathers and the order Of the col
ors on his rainbow-tinted beak, that
this distinctive feature of the screwed
up eye is never mentioned. The illus
trations in these books are as disap
pointing as the text. the eye being as
much like a rabbits as G pufin's. Be
sides The Monaghan eye, he has the
Monaghan secfetiveness as we'll. In.
offensive and unobtrusive, he Is silent
as he stands upright, or moves about
somewhat uncertainty on his dapper
little red legs among the noisy crowd
on a rocks. IL is only from the
depths Of his burrow in the spongy
red soil, Or from his chink among the
lic~hen-covered rocks. that the sound
OF his language reaches your ear. In
the privacy OF his home he now and
then utters strange sounds that when
first heard resemble somewhat in their
subdued intonation the distant low.
ing of cattle or shouting of men. But
when you know him better you will
fancy yeu can hear in his deep,
mournful "Arrh!" a weary sigh indica
tive of his fate. For he is the patient
coolie of the shore, with worse than
indentured labor for his fate. All the
ruling classes look to him to provide
them with an easy meal. Every time
the proud peregrine's offspring In the
eyrie whimper for food a putin some.
where has TO pay toll by giving up the
ghost; and yet. although this is almost
an hourly occurrence on a summers
day. the other puffins continue uncom.
planning and %unheeding.
A model parent the putin must ne,
for though it lays but a single egg, il
manages to maintain its numbers year
after year, in spite of the heaviest tax.
alton. There is no colony of the
lesser black-backed gull, where puffins
breed, that is not strewn with the
corpses of this humble little bird.
Were | a putin. this is the fate !
should most resent. The peregrine at
least wastes nothing. leaves nothing
but the beak and legs: but the cold.
blooded gull simply disembowels the
poor bird and leaves the rest to rot. |
have never seen the tragedy of its
death, whether ii is killed on land or
as it swims on the sea or as 1t flies
through the air: but. were | a hungry
bird of prey. ! think it would tenpt
me most as IL skins through the air
For all the world il looks like a fat
mackerel fitted with a pair of wings
which hardly seem strong enough 10
carry its plump little body TO its des.
tination. In fact, as Il whirrs up from
the sea to its burrow, as likely as not
1t will turn head over heels as il
strikes the ground and then get NJ
and make a wry face as it splits the
dirt out of its mouth; or else it will
dash headlong against a rock with a
smack that you would think would
kill 1t. and then look round as stupid
ly as a sheep that in its laundering
course fulfls its fate as mutton. AL
though each colony OF lesser black
backs shows the bloody tribute of the
unfortunate putin. that of the greater
black-Dac shows no evidence of this
kind.
In the whole community OF a hun
dred nests of this ruler of the archi
pelago-for not even the fierce pere
CRIME disputes his sway-there was
not a single putin corpse to be seen
Unfortunately, for all the immaculate
Wilderness of his head and neck, he
! has the same tell-tale blood fieck or
namenting his lower jaw as has his
lesser relative; he has the same cold
eye, and even a blacker back, a rea'
sooty black; and IL there are no traces
Of blood-guiltiness between the nests
mayhap It is because he goes n bet
ter than they and swallows his nut
ton whole. Indeed, fishermen say thai
he stands by the pufin's burrow like
a craven image. watching patiently
and thea, when at last the victim
comes out. he is suddenly caught BY
tho back Of the neck. has the lift