6 Dr. R. 0. Cunningham on the Solan Goose. 



screaming and din are such that you can hardly hear the voice 

 of one who addresses you. He afterwards proceeds to make 

 some observations on the white crust covering a very consider- 

 able portion of the rock (caused by the excrement of the Gannet 

 and other sea-birds), remarking that it is so hard and solid 

 and adheres so intimately to the rock, that it might readily 

 be mistaken for the natural soil of the place. In the magni- 

 ficent geographical work of Blaev*, published at Amsterdam 

 in 1662, we find two detailed and, on the whole, very accurate 

 notices of the Solan Goose. In the first of these, which occurs 

 in the course of a description of " Lauden,'^ or " Lothien," it is 

 stated (p. 40) that at a particular time of the year sea-birds 

 like Geese, and thence so called, arrive from foreign parts and 

 establish themselves on the Bass Rock, where they deposit their 

 eggs and hatch their young. These birds are found nowhere 

 else in the whole of Europe, another rock in the Firth of Clydef 

 excepted. There is such a quantity of them that they are a 

 source of great profit to the proprietor of the island; for not 

 only is their flesh fit for food, but their feathers serve for making 

 mattresses. They come to the island about the middle of April, 

 and take their departure about the middle of September ; but 

 previously to their arrival in flocks they send before them soli- 

 tary individuals to act as scouts. They only produce one egg 

 at a time, which they dexterously place on one end and keep 

 warm with one of their feet, rarely or never deserting it till the 

 young bird is hatched, and this because if it is temporarily left, 

 and then moved by any person from its original position, it is 

 impossible to replace it so as to remain firmly upon the rock, and 

 the bird is therefore obliged to lay another in its place. It is 

 peculiar to these birds that they cannot fly out of sight of the 

 sea, hence they are often caught when driven inland by the force 

 of the wind. The young, when they attain the magnitude of 

 the domestic goose, are sweet and fit for eating, but the flesh 

 of the old birds is hard, lean, and dry. The inhabitants of the 

 island collect their nests, using them as fuel. The following 



* Geographife Blavianse Vohimpn sextiim, quo Liber XII, XIII, Euro- 

 pte continentvr. Amstelsedami. Labore & Sumptibus .Toanuis Blaev. 



X It is almost needless to say that ^Vilsa is referred to. 



