eyes. Face and throat naked. Nostrils basal, linear, hidden. Lega short,
strong, placed rather backward ; three toes in front, one behind, articulated to
the inner surface of the tarsus, all four toes united-by'ni'embrane j, claw of the
middle toe pectinated. Wings long, first quUl-feather the longest. Tail
cuneiform..
The Gannet is a constant resident on our coast, but with
conslde^Më ; change of locality depending oft the season of
the year. The breeding stations at which the largest quantities
congregate- during spring and autumn are, Bundy Island,
off the coast uf Devon, where one spot is called Gannet
Cove, from the numbers which resort there; -the. Sk-dig1
off the county of Kerry, west of Ireland ; the Isle of Ailsa,
at the mouth of the Frith of Ól/d^; St. KiTda in the Outer
Hebrides; Souliskerry near the Orkneys; and, on the east
coast, the Bass Rock in the Frith of Forth. Those stations
are inhabited, by many thousands.
This last-named, precipitous rock, Mr. Selby-says, ' 4^is
rented from the proprietor at Tsixty or seventy pounds per
annum, and as the proceeds chiefly depend upon the produce
of the Gannets, great care is. taken to protect the old birds,
which the tenant is enabled to dq from the privilege possessed
by the proprietor, of preventing any perSon\|rpm shpoting, or
otherwise' destroying them within a certain limited’ distance
of the island. From the accounts I have received from the
resident there, it appears that the Gannet is ayqjy long-lived -
bird, as he has -recognised, from particular and well-known
marks, certain individuals for upwards, of forty years, .that ,invariably
returned to the same spot to breed. He also confirmed
to me the time,required for this bird to ^ tlak . maturity,
tiamely, ferar years; and pointed out several in the
different garbs they assume, during that period, stating also,’
that until fully matured, they have never, been, known to
breed. During incubation, in -consequence1-of being unmolested,
they become very tame; and, where thejijssts are
easily accessible upon the flat surface of the rock on the’south
west side of the island, will allow themselves to be stroked by
Ijije hand without resistance, or any show even of impatience,
except.a low guttural note;”,
The birds form their: nests of a mass of weeds and grass,
upon which they deposit , a single egg, which, when first laid,
is*of a chalky white, tinged- with pale blue; but soon becomes
■îsbiled ; the length is three inches three lines, by one inch
p ad téùllnes1’ in- breadth. The changes 'between black and
wMtiè these'birds undergo are very- curiQus. From the white
egg the -.fyoùng^ onelfife' -excluded with a smooth and naked
^bbiish-blycklskin, which- îsbofivb’eêdhes\.c&verbd with a white
down; this--growing rapidly IS sPOp-very,thick, giving them
thê rappearan^^of large powder puffs, or masses of cotton.
Through this white’ down their first true feathers issue, and
thèse are h lsi® 4 q b e followed by,the adult jiiinage which
again white. Gànnets feed exclusively upon fish, and
-bëiïig ;birds-';of"great powers of ftght ' they take a very wide
range ' over ~the feed in search Ppf food. Shoals of herrings,
* piMiards, or$ spratsllâppëajifo havelfhé greatest attraction for
them,' and all the species/of the genus Clupea, it will be
recollected, swim near the surface. On quitting their northern'
breeding*, stations1 in autumn, many of these birds take a
southern d ic tio n . Off the-Cornish coast,'Mr. Couch says
||fe>his Fauna, “ Adult-’ birds are most abundant in autumn
* and winter, fishermen learning by the actions of these birds
when shoals- of pilchards are present, and the direction they
igfre pursuing. The Gannet take|B§s prey in a different manner
from any other of our aquatic birds ; for traversing the
air in all directions, as soon as it discovers the fish it rises to
ï- such a height as experience shows best calculated to carry it
by a downward motion to the required depth ; and then par-
tiallfejelosing its wings, it falls perpendicularly on the prey,
and rarely without Success; the time between the plunge and
emersion being about fifteen seconds;” Gannets attracted to
the same shoal, and fishing in company, are frequently caught