6fc BOOBY GANNET.
fair weather they venture to a great distance seaward, and I have seen
them fully 200 miles from land.
in b<u; dlxd 9f(T
The expansibility of the gullet of this species enables it to swallow
fishes of considerable size, and on such occasions their mouth seems to
spread to an unusual width. In the throats of several individuals that
were shot as they were returning to their nests, I found mullets measuring
seven or eight inches, that must have weighed fully half a pound.
Their body beneath the skin, is covered with numerous air-cells, which
probably assist them in raising or lowering themselves while on wing, and
perhaps still more so when on the point of performing the rapid plunge
by which they secure their prey.
Their principal enemies during the breeding-season are the American
Crow and the Fish Crow, both of which destroy their eggs, and the Turkey
Buzzard, which devours their young while yet unfledged. They
breed during the month of May, but I have not been able to ascertain if
they raise more than one brood in the season. The adult birds chase
away those which are yet immature during the period of incubation. It
would seem that they take several years in attaining their perfect state.
When procured alive, they feed freely, and may be kept any length
of time, provided they are supplied with fish. No other food, however,
could I tempt them to swallow, excepting slices of turtle, which after all
they did not seem to relish. In no instance did I observe one drinking.
Some authors have stated that the Frigate Pelican and the Lestris force
the Booby to disgorge its food that they may obtain it; but this I have
never witnessed. Like the Common Gannet, they may be secured by
fastening a fish to a soft plank, and sinking it a few feet beneath the surface
of the water, for if they perceive the bait, which they are likely to
do if they pass over it, they plunge headlong upon it, and drive their bill
into the wood.,
When a Booby has alighted on the spar of a vessel, it is no easy matter
to catch it, unless it is much fatigued; but if exhausted and asleep,
an expert seaman may occasionally secure one. I was informed that after
the breeding-season, these birds roost on trees in company with the
Brown Pelican and a species of Tern, Sterna stolida, and spend their
hours of daily rest on the sand-banks. Our pilot, who, as I have mentioned
in my second volume, was a man of great observation, assured me
that while at Vera Cruz, he saw the fishermen there go to sea, and re-
BOOBY GANNET. 67
TaWMAO Y H 0 0 8 bO
turn from considerable distances, simply by following the course of the
_ , ... VD«JBI moil ssiim 00« vUuLtaom
The bills and legs of those which I procured m the brown plumage,
and which were from one to two years of age, were dusky blue. These were
undergoing moult on the 14th of May. At a more advanced age, the
parts mentioned become paler, and when the bird has arrived at maturity,
are as represented in my plate. I observed no external difference between
the sexes in the adult birds. The stomach is a long dilatable pouch, thin,
and of a yellow colour. The body is muscular, and the flesh, which is of
a dark colour, tough, and having a disagreeable smell, is scarcely fit for
food.
I am unable to find a good reason for those who have chosen to call
these birds boobies. Authors, it is true, generally represent them as ex-
-ii/T odd? hiitt ,8 tremely stupid';ii j\SLb*ujf9t fUto 7 om*riefJ atbh eu owiilovrrd l oi,s n Juotdte ,rylyo xinj aipizpslficxa boilles tDoIM aSn Wy ObIiDrd
with which I am acquainted. The Woodcock, too, is said to be stupid,
as are many other birds; but my opinion, founded on pretty extensive
observation, is, that it is only when birds of any species are unacquainted
with man, that they manifest that kind of ignorance or innocence which
he calls stupidity, and by winch they surfer themselves to be imposed upon.
A little acquaintance with him soon enables them to perceive enough
of his character to induce them to keep aloof. This I observed in the
Booby Gannet, as well as in the Noddy Tern, and in certain species of
land birds of which I have already spoken. After my first visit to Booby
90*t0l_ 2f fi39kl Qlli hjljj flijaifo j oifijjri 'i 'Jilt, iXtlii i!>03.f.»ift SiY^fl SlOff3Lir 'UtU
Island in the Tortugas, the Gannets had already become very shy and
wary, and before the Marion sailed away from those peaceful retreats of
the wandering sea-birds, the Boobies had become so knowing, that the most
expert of our party could not get within shot of them.
Hid lisdJ &vh
PEI.ECANUS SULA, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 218.—Lath. Index Ornith. vol. ii. p. 892.
SULA FUSCA, Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 408.
BOOBY, SOLA FUSCA, Nuttall, Manual, voL ii. p. 500.
Adult Male. Plate CCVII.
Bill longer than the head, opening beyond the eyes, straight, elongatedconical,
broader above than beneath at the base, compressed. Upper
9ta
•-'VI
mandible with the dorsal line convex at the base, then a little concave,
and towards the tip slightly arched, ridge very broad, convex, separated
E2