Page:Natural History, Birds.djvu/321

308 birds are said to be taken as they sit on the ledges of the rocks, by means of a noose of horse-hair attached to a slender rod of bamboo-cane. This mode is most successful in wet weather, as the Puffins then sit best upon the rocks, allowing a person to approach within a few yards, and as many as three hundred may be taken in the course of one day by an expert bird-catcher. They are sought principally for their feathers, which, like those of all these and similar birds, are copious, soft, and downy; and therefore well adapted for beds.

The form of the beak in these birds is very remarkable, as it appears to be constituted of several distinct pieces: the upper mandible has the basal portion separated from the tip by a deep oblique furrow, and carrying on its summit, a tube (or two united into one) which contains the nostrils; the point of this mandible takes the form of a curved and pointed claw or nail; the lower mandible is likewise seamed in a similar manner, and its tip is hooked downwards.

The fore-toes are united by a membrane, the hind-toe is rudimentary, and reduced to a mere claw, which is elevated upon the tarsus. The wings are usually long, and the flight powerful.

The Petrels are eminently oceanic birds, wandering over the boundless seas in all latitudes, rarely approaching the land except in the breeding