The Ordway new era., 1910-10-21

at In6 inner angie OF
the eye that under the name Of
the third eyelid makes the Mongolian
eye such q distinctive feature of his
human representative. This setting
Of the eye in an oblique chink gives
the pufin that fixed. quizzical express
sion which has led most observers to
call It . Quaint-looking bird. but which
- me irresistibly calls to mind the
Ihinaman's bland-looking face that.
like a mask. gives no sign Of the work
ing Of the inner mind.
It 10 q disappointment. after seeing
your nrst puflln at close quarters at his
home in pufnn-town. to turn up his
description In any birdbook 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 10 never mentioned. Tho Illus
trations in these books are a. disap-
pointing - the text, the eye being as
much like . rabbits as a pufin's. Be-
sides the Mongolian eye. he has the
Mougolian secretiveness as we'll. In.
offensive and unobtrusive. he is silent
a. he stands upright, or moves about
somewhat uncertainty on his dapper
little red legs among the noisy crowd
On the rocks. It is only from the
depths Of his burrow In the spongy
red soil. Or from his chink among the
1ichen-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
8rst heard resemble somewhat In their
subdued intouation the distant low.
ing Of cattle or shouting Of men. But
when you know him better you will
fancy you can hear In his deep.
mournful "Arrh!" weary sigh indica-
tive Of his fate. For he is the patient
coolle o: the shore. with worse than
indsnt,.-et labor for his fate. All the
rulinS S:rIses look to him to provide
them with an easy meal. Every time
the proud peregrine's offspring In the
eyrie whimper for food a pufnn some
where has to pay toll by giving up the
ghost: and yet. although this 10 almost
an hourly occurrence on a summers
day. the other pufiins continue uncom.
planning and unheeding.
A model parent the pufiin must be.
for though It lays but single egg. It
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.
We're q, puffin. thi3 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. I
have never seen the tragedy Of its
death, whether It Is killed on land or
a. II swims on the sea or as It flies
through the air: but. were I a hungry
bird Of prey. think 1t would tempt
me most as II skins through the air
For all the world It looks like fat
mackerel fitted with pair Of wings
which hardly seem strong enough to
carry its plump little body to its des.
tination. In fact. az It whirrs up from
the sea to it's burrow. as likely as not
II will turn head over heels as It
strikes the ground and then get up
and make wry face as It spits the
dirt out Of its mouth: or else II Will
dash headlong against rock with
smack that you would think would
kill Il, and then look round rs stupid
" as a sheep that in It's laundering
course fulf1ls its fate as mutton. Al
though each colony Of lesser black.
backs shows the bloody tribute OF the
unfortunate putin. that OF the greater
blackjack shows no evidence Of this
kind.
In the whole community Of a hun
dred nests Of this ruler Of the archi-
nelaeo-for not even the fierce pere-
crime disputes his sway-there was
.,,r,, ,,,,f8n corDae To he seen.