THE GANNET. G05 



The CL-lebralod discoverer ol' the circulation of the blood, AVilliain Harvey, thus alludes 

 to the Bass Rock : " The surface of this island, in the months of May and June, is almost 

 covered with nests, eggs, and young birds, so that you can scarce find free footing any- 

 where ; and then such is the density of the flight of the old birds above, that, like a 

 cloud, they darken the sun and sky ; and such is the screaming and din, that you can 

 scarce hear the voice of one that addresses you. 



" If }au turn your eyes below, and from your lofty stand and precipice regard the sea, 

 there you perceive on all sides around an infinite variety of different kinds of sea-fowl 

 swimming about in pursuit of their prey : the face of the ocean is very like that of a pool 

 in the spring season, when it a2>pears swarming with frogs ; or to those sunny hills and 

 cliflfy mountains, looked at from below, that are covered with numerous flocks of sheep 

 and goats. 



" If you sail round the island and look up, you see on every ledge, and shelf, and 

 recess, innumerable flocks of birds of almost every size and order — more numerous than 

 the stars that apjjear in the unclouded, moonless sk}' ; and if you regard the flights that 

 incessantly come and go, you may imagine it is a mighty swarm of bees that you have 

 before you. I should scarcely be credited did I name the revenue which was annually 

 derived from the feathers, the eggs, and the old nests ; which, as useful for firing, are all 

 made objects of traffic by the proprietor : the sum he mentions exceeds credibility. 



" There was this particular feature,' ijvhich, as it refers to our subject, I shall mention, 

 and also as it bears me out in my report of tlie multitudes of sea-fowl ; the whole island 

 appears of a brilliant white colour to those who approach it ; all the cliffs look as if they 

 consisted of the whitest chalk ; the true colour of the rock, however, is dusky and black. 

 It is a friable white crust that is spread over all, which gives the island its whiteness and 

 splendour — a crust, having the same consistency, colour, and nature of an egg-shell, 

 which plasters everything with a hard, though friable, and testaceous kind of 

 covering." 



For other particulars we are indebted to more recent naturalists. When, for the first 

 time, the Bass Ilock was visited by one entitled to great honour, Mr. Macgillivray, the 

 number of the gannet might be estimated, he thought, at twenty thousand. Every part 

 of the mural faces of the rock, especially towards their summits, was, more or less, 

 covered by them. In one spot, near the landing-place, about forty yards in circum- 

 ference, and on a gentle slope of gravelly ground, about three hundred individuals were 

 seated in peaceful security in their nests. 



These birds arrive in February or the beginning of March, and depart in October. 

 In some years a few individuals remain during the winter. The nests are composed of 

 grass and sea-weeds, generally placed on the bare rock or earth, elevated in the form of 

 a truncated cone, of which the base is about twentj' inches in diameter, with a shallow 

 terminal cavity. On the summit of the island are numerous holes in the turf, formed by 

 the gannets in pulling away grass and turf for their nests. They are placed in all parts 

 of the rock where a convenient spot occurs, but are much more nimrerous towards the 

 summit. 



The gannets, whUe sitting, usually allow a person to approach within three feet, 

 sometimes much nearer, so that one may even touch them. At such times they merely 

 open their bill and make their usual cry, or, rising on their feet, they express seme 

 degree of resentment, but seem to have very little apprehension of danger. They take 

 advantage of the absence of 'their neighbours to pilfer the materials of their nests ; 

 frequently two join in the act, and occasionally two may be seen tugging at the same 

 bunch, endeavouring to wrest it from each other. The female lays only one egg. During 

 incubation, these birds, in consequence of being unmolested, become very tame ; and when 

 they are easily accessible on the flat surface of the south-west side of the Bass Rock, 



