226 COMMON GANNET.
during mi., -of his visits to thé Sea Island.« off'«Jit shores of South
Carolina, on the. 2d of July 18;«!, ho observed a flock of Gantlets
of icoin fifty to an hundred, all of the colouring, of.ithe one in, my plate,
and: which, was a bird in its first winter plumage. They'were seen
during several days on and about Colo's Island, at times on thé sands,
at Others; among the rolling breakers. Hementions having heard
Mr Giles, ail acquaintance of- his, who knows much about birds, sii»,
that in the course of:the preceding summer lie had seen a pair of Giin-
SCets going to, and returning from, a nest in a tree ! This is. in accordance
with the report of Captain Napoleon . Costk, who commanded
the United States Revenue Cutter, the Cnmpbo.ll, placed at my dispoS
sal during my visit to the Texas, and who was Lieutenant, as well as Pilot
of the Marion. JJe stated that ho had found a breeding place on the
coast of Georgia, occupied by a flock of old, and therefore White Gannets,
the nestsi'ôf, all 01 which wore placed upon trees. No one can be
greatly surprised at these reports, who knows, às 1 do, that the Brown
Gannet, Sulafmea, breeds both on trees and on dry elevated sand bars.
During winter months. I have generally observed single birds at.some
considerable distance from the ¡shore out at sea, sometimes »de ed beyond
what mariners call soundings, but rarely young ones, they generally
keeping much nearer to the shores, and procuring tlioir food in shallower
water.
The flight of the Gannet is powerful, well sustained, awl at tinios
extremely elegant. While travellinSwhether in fine or foul weather,,
they fly low over the surface s i the water, flapping their wings thirty
or forty times in succession, in the manner jjf the Ibis and the Brown
Pelican, and then sailing about, an equal distance, with the wings .ft
right angles t® the body, and the neek extended forwards. But, Reader,
to judge of the elegance of this bird while on wing, I would advise you to
gaze on it from the deck of a«y of our packet ships, when her .commander
has first communicated the joyful news.that you are less than
three hundred miles from the nearest shore!, whether it be that of merry
Kngland or of.my own beloved country. You would them see the powerful
fisher, on well-spread pinions, and high over the water,, glide
silently along, surveying each swelling wave below, and coursing with so.
much ease and buoyancy as to tempt you to think that had you been
furnished with equal powers of flight, you might, perform a journey of
eighty or ninety JB®es without the slightest, fatigue in a single hour.
But perhaps at the very moment when these thoughts have* crossed
COMMON GANNET. 227
your mind, as they many feké%''have crtós'éa mine on such occasions,
are suddenly checked by the ^ t ion of tfce bird, which, intent , on
filling its emj ^ stomach, ani '^e'aess of your fancies, plunges headlong
through lift air, with Ifespeed.' of Woeteor, and instantaneously snatches
the1'fish fcfcich'iS É é sight rà&'Bfa6f>W from on high. Now P*-
A * ' j f o u may^Pthe snow-t m .bird j g buoyantly for a while on
t h e i b S ^ f f i t s beloved eleiAStfiither munching its prey, ors^allowirig
i t É Or perhaps, If disappointed in Ms attempt, you will see
it fis-e by èontinuèd flapptì#,' shaking 4ts tail sideways the while, and
M M W M broad feef among M under covert* of that
use«l ruddtfi'after whifli' it proceeds!?« straight course, until its
w i n g s ' ^ well sufipiiéd by the flowing'air, it gradually ascends to its
formei "height; and SSmnuSffi'lfs searcÌ'anew. ' ^
^ Ih%:?.kre windy l e a t h e r , I S a # Sen the Gannet propelling itself
against the g a e ^W&f s ' f e f considi»fe eAi f t , placing its body almost
sideVays1 i>r ¿bliqttely, and thus alternately, in thè manner of Petrels
aMGuillemotsV and I have though^tha. the bird then moved
with more velócity than at any ¿tier time, except when plunging after
its' prey. Portions who 1'iave seen it while ougageii in procuring rood,
nraft, like m f s * , ' "We ' ' b U surprised when 'they have read in Woks
that known to ' d ^ / f e i d f k are %sWedthat they
« h a v e beentaken t i f a fish fastened to aboard sunk to tie depth of
» 0 fathoms, in which case the noci haslther been found disio.««,
or the bill firmly tix'e'8 it. the wood." With such statemehtebefore him,
one migf t think that his Swn^sibù had been defective, had he not
careful to note down at onee the result of his observations. And
ai this is. a matter of Hiibit with mi, I will offer you mine, good Reader,
, ill?caring one jot for whit has been said to you before, on the subject.
I have'¡ten the Gannet plunge, and afterwards remain under the
surface ,.f the water for at least one mnilifeat a time. On one occasion
of this kind, l' fet one just as it emerged, and which held a fish firmly
its bill, and had two others half-way dovrà its throat. This has indimi'me
to believe that'll sometimes follows lis prey in the water,
- and selves several fishes in Succession. At' other times I have observed
the Ganhe't plungfe amidst' a shoal of launcià » as scarcely to enter the
water, and afterwards follow them, swimming, or as it were running,
<„, the water, with lb Wings extended upwards,, ani striking to the
a p t ana left until it was satiated. While on the Gulf of Mexico, I