128 CATALOGUE OF BIRDS. 



MUTE SWAN. 



Case 152. ■ 



The Mute or Tame Swan being included in all the 

 lists of British birds, is here shewn with its young 

 brood. 



The specimens in the case were obtained on Somerton 

 Broad, in Norfolk, in June, 1871. The weight of the 

 male was 321bs., that of the female 181bs. 



GANNET. — (Mature and Nestlings.) 



Case 153. 



There are about half-a-dozen breeding stations of 

 these birds round the British Islands, It is, however, 

 only during spring and summer that they approach the 

 laud (unless weakened by stress of weather or accident) 

 for the purpose of rearing their young ; at other 

 seasons they follow the shoals of herring and mackerel, 

 or other fish on which they feed, and rest on the open 

 sea. 



The present case is copied from a sketch taken on 

 the north side of the Bass Rock. The mature birds 

 are here represented, some with their newly-hatched 

 and others with full-fledged young. On breaking the 

 shell the young Gannet is a small, naked, shapeless 

 monstrosity ; its first covering is a thin white down, 

 which gradually thickens with the size of the bird; 

 this it retains for about a month before the slightest 

 signs of feathers make their appearance. The nestling 

 plumage, as will be readily seen by the specimens in 

 the case, is a dark grey speckled with white ; the back 



