6o3 P E L I C A N .
Pu c e . This fpecies is met with about the Caspian Sea, among others
of the genus ; alfo on the river Jaick, about Gtirjef *.
25.
GANNET.
Pelecanus baflanus, Lin. Syjl. i. p. 217. 5.—Faun. Suec. N° 147.--Brun.
N° 124.—-Muller, N® 147.——Faun. Groenl. N° 59.
Le Fou de Baffan, Brif. Orn. vi. p. 503. pi. 44.-—Buf. Oif. viii. p. 376.—
PI. Enl. 278.
Sula Hoieri, Raii Syn. p. 123. 5 ?
Soland Goofe, Raii Syn. p. 122. A. z.'—Will. Orn. p. 328. pi. 03.'—Albin,
i. pi. 86.
Gannet, Br. Zool. ii. N° 293.—Arft. Zool. N° 510.
Br. Muf. Lev. Mu/.
D escription. g I Z E of a Goofe : weight feven pounds : length near three feet:
breadth fix. Bill blueilh alh-colour; the length of it fix
inches; noftrils placed in a furrow : infide of the mouth black : a
naked blue Ikin furrounds the eyes, and the bafe of the bill: the
throat is bare, and the lkin very dilatable, forming a pouch capable
of containing five or fix Herrings; irides yellowilh : the
general colour of the plumage is white; but the crown, and upper
parts of the neck, at the back part, are buff-colour : the baftard
wing, and greater quills, black : the tail confifts of twelve feathers,
and is cuneiform: the legs black, marked with a ftripe of
pea-green before: the claw of the middle toe pectinated, like
that of the Heron.
P lace and
Manners.
The male and female are much, alike.
Dneyoung birds, during the firft year, are dufky, fpeckled with
white •, one of which we fufpe£t the next-defcribed to be.
The Gannet inhabits the colder parts of this kingdom, and
* Dec, Ruff', iii. p. 504.
more
P E L I C A N 1. 609
more efpeciallyfeveral of the northern ifles, and in particular that
o f the Bafs in Scotland, whence the name. It generally firlt
makes its. appearance in March, and after making a circuit of the
ifland., departs in O-llober or November *. This race feems to be
in purfuit after the Herrings and Pilchards, whofe motions i t ,
watches; and thefifherriian knows the coming of thefe fijh by the
appearance of the birds. That this is the inducement feems probable,
as they are likewife feen, in the month of December, as far
fouth as the coaft of Lijbon and Gibraltar,. plunging for fardina f.
The Garnet Is alfo common on the coafts of Norway, and thofe of
Iceland, and now and then met with on the fouthern coafts of
Greenland. In America, found on the coafts of Newfoundland,
where it-breeds; migrating in winter as far as Carolina. Said alfo
to have been met with frequently by our feveral voyagers in many
parts-of the fouthern ocean ; but we are not clear whether the fort
meant.by them is the common Garnet here treated of, or the leffer
one, below defcribed
The neft is compofed of various matter, fuch as graft and fea-
plants, intermixed with any thing the bird finds floating on the
water. It lays only one egg, which is white, rather lefs than that
of a Goofe; if this egg be taken away, the bird will lay a fecond;
and fhould this be taken alfo, a third; but on the lofs of the laft:
can furnilh no more that feafon. The young Garnets are brought
to Edinburgh, and fold at twenty pence apiece, and, being roafted,
are ferved up a little before dinner, by way of whet; but the'inr-
habitants of the ifle of St. Kilda make thefe birds a great article
* According as the inhabitants take or leave the firfl: egg. Br. Zool. f Id.
| 'See W ’s Voy. i. p. .10, 11.—Hawke/» -Voy. ii. p. 382, 3, 43-9, 637, and
Other places.
VO L . III. 4 I
2$«