GANNET. 139 



Hereford. Its slaughter was an inhospitable deed ; done, too, on 

 a church spire ! 



For if a hope of safety rest 

 'Tis on the sacred name of guest, 

 Who seeks for shelter, storm distress'd, 

 Within a chieftain's hall. 



Scott— The Lord of the Isles. 



Genus— SULA. 

 SULA BASSANA— Gannet. 



Wild round their rifted brows, with frequent cry 

 As of lament, the Gulls and Gannets fly. 



Scott — To the Duke of Bucdeugh. 



The Gannet is a noble bird. His white body, with only the 

 primary feathers of the wing, black ; his buff-coloured head and back 

 of the neck ; his yellowish eyes, and his sharp-pointed bluish beak ; 

 together with his size, make the adult bird very handsome. The 

 Gannet takes four years to attain maturity. He is born covered 

 with a bluish black skin, from which a white down quickly grows, 

 so thick and full, as to make the bird look like a powder-puff, or a 

 ball of cotton ; from this down, black feathers protrude, which 

 become motded with white, until eventually, the white plumage of 

 the adult bird appears. 



The Gannet is a constant resident on our coasts, and is widely 

 distributed until the breeding season, when they congregate in 

 many well-known localities, which they always frequent year after 

 year. It is a long-lived bird; and "a resident at the Bass Rock" 

 says Mr. Selby (as quoted by Yarrell) "has recognised certain 

 individuals, from particular and well-known marks, as invariably 

 returning to the same spot to breed, for upwards of forty years. 



Gannets fly long distances, and frequent a wide range of sea- 

 coast, being invariably attendant on the herring tribe. Their 

 appearance off the Cornish coast is welcomed by the fishermen, 



