THE CORMORANT, SHAG, AND GANNET. 221 



to the points of distinction already enumerated, we may 

 note the presence of yellow spots on the gape. Like the 

 last, this is a denizen chiefly of rocky coasts, 

 and it is more numerous on the wilder cliffs of 

 western Scotland and Ireland. In the former it is known 

 as the "scart." In diving after fish it first lifts itself 

 clear of the water, making more of a splash than the cor- 

 morant. The nest, seldom at any distance from the coast, 

 is not unlike that of the cormorant, but much more dirty. 

 Eggs, 3 to 5, under 2^ inches; otherwise similar to those 

 of the last. 



The Gannet, or " Solan Goose," is a beautiful white bird 

 of large size and striking appearance, which breeds only 

 on the Bass Rock, on Lundy Island, on an 

 island off Pembrokeshire, on Ailsa Craig, at 

 three spots in the Scottish isles, and in the south-west of 

 Ireland at two stations. The bird is entirely white, except 

 some conspicuous black feathers on the long pointed wings. 

 The tip of the lower mandible lacks the strong hook 

 noticed in the cormorant and shag, though there is a 

 slight depression. There was a fine gannet in the 

 Brighton Aquarium this August (1897), but it looked to 

 me strangely out of condition. The spectacle of a number 

 of gannets fishing in some Cornish bay is one not easily 

 forgotten. On the hottest days, the shoals of smaller 

 pilchards will wander right inshore ; and at such times 

 these magnificent "geese" will sail overhead, and, each 

 one soaring to a great height, will fall headlong, wings 

 folded, on the fishes, harried from below by pollack and 

 other scaly allies of the greedy birds above. For greedy 

 the gannet undoubtedly is. I have watched half-a-dozen 

 of them fish in this way for over an hour, killing fish at 

 every plunge, and even then they were on the look out 

 for more. Sometimes they dash obliquely on the fish 

 from a low elevation. A very wonderful provision is 

 observed on examining the bill of this bird, for, as in the 



