The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1910-11-24

for all the immaculate
whiteness of his head and neck. he
has the same telltale blood fleck or
namentng his lower jaw as has his
lesser relative; he has the same cold
eye, and even a blacker back, real
sooty black; and II there are no traces
OF bloodguitiness between the nests,
mayhap Il is because he goes one bet
ter than they and swallows his NUT
ton whole. Indeed, fishermen say that
he stands by the pufiin's burrow like
craven image, watching patiently.
and then, when at last the victim
comes out. he is suddenly caught by
the back OF the neck. has the life
shaken out of him and is then gulped
down holus-bolus.
do not wish to malign the lesser
ck-backed gull to the extent cf sug-
gesting by implication that il disem-
bowels its victims while still alive. In
fact, the only evidence | have Is dis
tinctly to the contrary. Mr.. J. w. Par
sons, late of the Farnes lighthouse.
and n most acute observer of bird-life.
tells me that he once saw lesser
black back kill a putin. He did not
see 1t catch the bird. but II was killed
by being shaken as terrier shakes a
rat. and then ducked under water until
drowned Then the gull flew With II
on to a rock and, after dlsemboweling
It, tried many times to swallow 1t
whole, but could not get II down. On
! the land the puffn's footing seems un-
certain; In the air its flight is labored:
therefore the place to see II at Its
best must be aB It hunts its prey un-
der water.
Much do | envy observers like Ed
mund Selous who have watched 1t as
It wings It's way beneath the waves
with it's scarlet legs trailing behind.
AS you approach In a boat little
group OF puffins sitting on the water,
you get an inkling OF their water
magic. When you get too near to them
for their peace of mind but not near
enough for you to see how II is done.
first one and then another disappears
You see no dive. Just a bird sitting
motionless. and then little swirl
! where was the bird. But II you want
to see one of the fairy sights OF bird
land, go to puffin-town and. resting
' your back against convenient rock.
? be content to sit still for an hour. In
front of you is shelving tract Of bare
brown earth nearly an acre In extent.
riddled In all directions with burrows
that so undermine the ground that.
however carefully you walk across IL.
. a clumsy foot is sure sooner or later
!. to break into some putin habitation.
u All the pufflns that your advent dis
. turbed are bobblng up and sit in hun
: dreds In the bay below. Presently,
y II you are quiet. they begin to whirr
u up from the sea in twos and threes
and then scores and battalions. As
likely as not the very first that pitch
will alight within two or three yards
. of YOU Others, as they circle round
will draw up their feet, which had
= been extended as II for alighting. and
~ so pass out TO sea once more. But
before long puffn-town will be dense
u ly populated by its stild little inhab
itants, all bearing that fixed puzzlet
=, expression that makes them look al
~ most comical in their solemnity. Some
+" stand still with Just an occasiona
tapping of their wings as II TO DIR!
~ them, others take aimless little run
40 on their dapper little red legs ant
ie then stand still, looking round. as |
u puzzled what the next move is to be
Others fall awkwardly as they align
az and promptly drop down hole In tn
is ground, just as the next-door neigh
,u' Dor maybe pops up from another hol
iO tr m n 1itfln
=. of five two have caught hold OF on
''o another's beaks and are having tus
VI sic, but whether In amity or not car
90 not tell. Every now and then quite
~ quarter OF the population will sudder
p' ly bend forward and in an instant 1
NJ a great cloud are whirrlng out TO SCI
AT while those left behind look puzzle
30 at their sudden departure and Just a
u puzzled when in a few minutes all tn
es wanderers return. each taking up II
~ position again.
a. Many observers have been puzzle
nn to understand how the putin manage
ha to catch one fish after another an
IN pack each methodically across 4
a Jaws, but as Mr. King opens the bea
IA OF a dead putin you have the answ'
IA. from the pufiin's own mouth. Il
me there on its palate are the rows
Al barbs sloping back. between which u
ck. fish are fled There is much more
+be be told about this interesting lit
ter bird, especially II all were known. b
his puzzled as the putin looks. there
one thing known TO that little mil
nm. behind the mask. but which puzzl
hi. us, and that is the still unsolyed my
re. terry OF where he spends his wint
vas time.