92 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



object as it flies about over the dark waters of 

 the winter sea. The Gannet likes the association 

 of others of its kind, hence if you find one you 

 are pretty sure to see others in the immediate 

 neighborhood. They range all down the Atlantic 

 coast to Florida, and it is not an uncommon sight 

 to see small flocks almost anywhere off the shores 

 of the eastern United States, disporting them- 

 selves in the water just outside the breakers, or 

 wheeling about in quest of fish. 



They fly usually at a height of from sixty to a 

 hundred feet above the water. Dr. F. A. Lucas 

 says : " The height at which the Gannet flies 



catch, and then rises in pursuit of other game." 

 Gannets breed north of the United States. 

 Bird Rock in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and 

 Bass Rock at the Firth of Forth contain well- 

 known breeding colonies of enormous numbers. 

 The nests are usually built on ledges overlooking 

 the sea. Where these are broad, the entire area 

 is covered with nests, just enough space being 

 left between them for the birds to come and go 

 with comfort. Where the ledges are narrow 

 and there is room only for a single row of nests, 

 one will find nearly every brooding bird sitting 

 with its tail pointed outward and its head in close 



/ 



Drawing by R. I. Brasher 



GANNET (J nat. size) 

 Like an animated spear it plunges into the ocean after its prey of fish 



above the water is proportionate to the depth at 

 which the fish are swimming beneath, and Cap- 

 tain Collins tells me that when fish are swim- 

 ming near the surface the Gannet flies verv low 

 and darts obliquely instead of vertically upon its 

 prey. Should any finny game be seen within 

 range, down goes the Gannet headlong, the nearly 

 closed wings being used to guide the living arrow 

 in its downward flight. Just above the surface 

 the wings are firmly closed, and a small splash or 

 spray shows where the winged fisher cleaves the 

 water to transfix its prey. Disappearing for a 

 few seconds, the bird reappears, rests for a 

 moment on the water, long enough to swallow his 



proximity to the rocks. ( Jne egg is laid. It is 

 covered with a calcareous deposit that can readily 

 be scratched off. The young are hatched naked. 

 The down, which appears in a few days, is of a 

 yellowish hue. Immature birds have a peculiarly 

 spotted ap])earance, as the brown feathers with 

 which they are covered are each centered with a 

 wedge-shaped dot of white. 



It is extremely rare that the Gannet is found 

 inland, the ones which have been occasionally re- 

 ported doubtless being individuals that had lost 

 their way, or had been driven by storms from 

 the ocean, on whose bosom they are so much at 

 home. T. Gilbert Pearson. 



