(■,0(5 THE FEATHERED TKIHES. 



they will iiUow tliemi3elvos to bo stroked by the hand without resistance, or any show 

 of impatience excej^t the low guttural cry of (jrotj, grog. 



It appears that the gannet is a long-lived bird, certain individuals having bepn recog- 

 nised, from particular and well-known marks, as returning for upwards of forty years to 

 the same spot to breed. 



The young are at first covered with very beautiful snow-white close down-; at the age 

 of about six weeks the feathers make their appearance, and at the end of three months 

 they are ready to fly. The gannet is valued for its flesh, though rank and oil)', and for 

 the' down which forms its clothing. Thousands of these birds are sold, at the rate of one 

 shilRno- and eight pence each, in the markets of Edinburgh and other towns of Scotland. 

 Hence the Bass Rock is rented from the proprietor at an annual charge, and the proceeds 

 of the renter depend oa the produce of the birds. 



At St. Kilda alone, more than 22,000 birds and an immense quantity of eggs are said 

 to be annually consumed. Jjatham considers 100,000 far too low an estimate. They are 

 also found on the Skelig Isles, on the Irish coast. 



The late Dr. Stanley, Bishop of Norwich, vouched for the fact of sea-birds feeding on 

 fish forced above the surface by the lower part of the shoal, having witnessed a singular 

 scene off the Hebrides during the summer season : — " A whale of the ■ smaller species 

 {Dcljihinua dcdudor*) was observed pursuing a shoal of herrings about half a mile ofl". 

 The fish were evidently iu a state of alarm, and it was equally evident that a prodigious 

 flight of gulls, ganuets, and all the host of sea-birds, were aware of what miglit happen, 

 as they hovered over the spot screaming, and now and then darting irregularly down- 

 wards to within a yard or two of the surface. As the whale closed upon the shoal, 

 ao-itation seemed to increase, judging by the increased excitement of the birds above. 

 His long black back slowly rose, and disappeared as the huge animal rolled onwards, 

 seldom descending so far beloAV as to bury his back-fin, which rippled along the surface : 

 at length he was in the midst of them, and the confusion was complete. At one moment 

 he disappeared altogether ; but, though unseen by us, it was very clear, by a momentary 

 elevation of an actual mass of herrings above the watel-, that the poor frightened creatures 

 had closed within the smallest compass, and by the upheaving struggles of the lower 

 stratum of the shoal, were thus unwillingly exposed to greater dangers in another 

 element ; for, availing themselves of this eventful moment, down came the birds with 

 one simultaneous pounce upon the dense mass. Shortly after, the dark fin \\-ould again 

 appear, and a bright jet of glistening foam, rising like a fountain, ainiounced that llie 

 animal was under the necessity of breathing or blowing after his labours. Then again 

 he would descend headlong, with a sort of recruited spring, exhibiting nearly his wlmle 

 bod}-, and giving the water a tremendous lash with his tail as it disappeared. The sound 

 produced by this crash upon the waves was astounding enough in itself, but the effect of 

 the blow was far more so ; for, whether by a sort of sculling motion it scooped and threw 

 a mass of herrings upwards with a jerk, or whether they were fairly driven from I lie 

 water with the cloud of foam which followed the blow, the air for some feet al.'ove (he 

 Avatcr was spangled with bright specks of herring, on which the uniti-d host of bii'ils 

 again pounced, forming one mingled mass of herrings, sea-fowl, and foam.'' 



In reference to the people of St. Kilda, Mr. James Wilson says : — "They pay their 

 rent (about t'60, as we wore told) chiefly by moans of feathers, wliieli (hey collect frnm 

 both the young and old bii'ds, and each family is also bound to funuHh about twenty- 

 three pecks of barley every year. Tin's, however, T believe, is made up by an 



• Tho nortlicni coa^tH wnc iiiufli iV((]Utiitc(l Iw this wliulc iilxnU tluit tiinr ; at Kirkwall )iay, in 

 Orkney, wc saw tlic roiiiiiins of no less than niiiuty-two, whiih had (icon ifociitly (liiv(n on shoic in ii 

 licavy giilc. 



