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



that the bird is capable of inflicting a most severe bite with the 

 razor-like edge of its mandibles ; for on one occasion, when a 

 live specimen was brought to me, it made a cut between two 

 and three inches long on the hand of its captor. 



Macgillivray has well described the mode of flight of the Solan 

 Geese in the following words : — " In launching from the cliffs, 

 they frequently utter a single plaintive cry, perform a curve, 

 having its concavity upwards, then shake the tail, frequently 

 the whole plumage, draw the feet backwards, placing them close 

 under the tail on each side, and cover them with the feathers. 

 In some the feet were entirely covered, while in others parts of 

 the toes were apparent. In flying the body, tail, neck, and bill, 

 are nearly in a straight line ; the wings extended, and never 

 brought close to the body, and they move by regular flappings, 

 alternating with regular sailings. In alighting, they generally 

 ascend in along curve, keeping their feet spread, and come down 

 rather heavily, often finding it difficult to balance themselves, 

 and sometimes, when the place is very steep, or when another 

 bird attacks them, flying off to try it a second time." The 

 Gannet appears to have considerable difficulty in taking wing 

 when on low ground ; and hence individuals which have flown 

 inland and alighted are not uncommonly captured. Thus Wil- 

 lughby informs us that the bird he described " was taken alive 

 near Coleshil, a market-town in Warwickshire;" and many 

 similar instances are on record. 



As has been truly said by a late eminent naturalist, " the 

 early and more recent records of the Gannet are full of fond in- 

 ventions ; " and nowhere is this assertion more fully borne out 

 than in the extravagant accounts that have been given regarding 

 its power of diving. The late William Thompson, for example, 

 in his admirable ' Natural History of Ireland,^ states, on the 

 authority of a post-master at Ballantrae, in Ayrshire, that Gan- 

 nets have been taken in nets at depths of 180 feet in that 

 neighbourhood. Now it seems entirely inconceivable that a 

 Gannet, if ever it penetrated to such a depth, could ever come 

 to the surface again ; and even if it were capable of doing so, it 

 is extremely improbable, to say the least, that it would take 

 such an amount of trouble to procure prey that might be ob- 



