20 Wild Birds and their Haunts 



back in stately fashion winged its flight. Gannet or 

 Solan Geese were extraordinarily numerous, the flocks 

 coming and going to and from Coundal Bay in quick 

 succession. The chief officer of the Light-house described 

 the proceduie of capturing these birds, other than by a 

 gun. ' ' We usually tie a herring to a flat piece of boaid 

 and place it on the wave. Presently down comes the 

 Gannet and pounces on the fish, to get its neck broken 

 on the piece of board, and a boat is at once put off for the 

 dead bird." " This is done," said he " whenever we are 

 short of a meal." The explanation of a well-known 

 naturalist that the Gannets ' ' follow the shoals of herring 

 and mackerel," does not, in my opinion, satisfactorily 

 solve the problem as regards this particular locality. 



The Butt of Lewis being the extreme turning point or 

 gateway from the Minch to the open West Atlantic, and 

 centrally situated between the gannetries of St. Kilda 

 Sulesgeir, and Stack of Skerry, is doubtless the reason 

 for so many passing, but leaves us none the wiser as to 

 whether they are St. Kilda or Stack Gannets, nor what 

 necessitates their quest so far afield. From the Butt, 

 St. Kilda is about 90 miles S.W., Sulesgeir about 30 north, 

 and the Stack about 65 in N.N.E. direction. At these 

 gannetries J. H. Gurney, in his interesting book on the 

 Gannet gives the number of birds approximately as 

 30,000 at the St. Kilda group of islets, and 8,000 at each 

 of the other two places. A compulsory close season of 

 the herring fishing in this district did not to any extent 

 affect the number of Gannets passing. They were seen 

 earlier and more rmmerous in January, 1915, than usual, 

 then occurred a blank for two weeks, before a gradual 

 and continued increase of passing birds set in. So 

 numerous and continuous were they passing in large 

 flocks from S.E. to S.W. during the first week of April 

 that from a certain standpoint it was possible to see with 

 one sweep of the eye, a lane of at least a thousand birds 

 in flight. 



At the outset it may be stated that early hatching of 

 Gannets at the Bass Rock is 10th May ; late, end of July. 

 At these farther north gannetries mentioned the first 



