THE ZOOLOGIST
THIRD SERIES.
Vol. II.] JULY, 1878. [No. 19. |
ON THE MOULT OF BILL AND PALPEBRAL APPENDAGES
IN THE COMMON PUFFIN.
discovered by dr. bureau.
By the Editor.
Singular as the above title may appear, it not only appro- priately expresses the author's meaning, but is fully substantiated by the facts which he has detailed in a very interesting article recently published in the ' Bulletin de la Société Zoologique de France.'* His discovery is so remarkable, and, as far as I am aware, has been so little suspected by English ornithologists, that I believe it will be as agreeable to the readers of 'The Zoologist' as it is due to the author, to make it known as widely as possible, the more so as I have reason to think that the journal in which the article in question is published has not so extended a circulation amongst naturalists in this country as it deserves.
In the following pages, by Dr. Bureau's permission, I have attempted a translation of the more important portions of his paper, and he has most obligingly enabled me to reproduce the principal plate with which he has illustrated his subject. I trust he will accept this expression of my sincere thanks.
After referring to the published opinions of previous authors relative to the Puffin, and pointing out how little, comparatively,
- " De la Mue du Bec et des Ornements Palpebraux du Macareux Arctique,
Fratercula arctica (Linn.), après la Saison des Amours." Par le Docteur Louis Bureau. Bull. Soc. Zool. de France, 1878.
