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



the birds manifested but slight symptoms of fear, and could 

 hardly be driven from their nests ; occasionally one more bold 

 would actually attack us. Their number on the summit could 

 be very easily and accurately determined by measuring the sur- 

 face occupied by them ; by a rough computation I made it to 

 be about fifty thousand pairs, and probably half as many more 

 breed on the remaining portion of the rock and on the Little 

 Bird." 



Like most other birds, the Gannet is preyed upon by various 

 parasitic insects of the order Anoplura. In the specimens 

 which I have examined I found two distinct species in great 

 numbers on the feathers of the fully fledged birds, and even 

 on the naked skin of recently hatched individuals ; and these 

 on examination were found to be referable to the Decopho?'us 

 bassancs and Lipensus staphylinoides of Denny. Montagu de- 

 scribes a parasite from the cellular membrane of the skin under 

 the name Cellularia bassnni ; but, though I have looked for it 

 with care, I have not succeeded in meeting with it. 



It would appear that the Gannet is a very long-lived species, 

 as Mr. Selby was informed by the keeper of the Bass that he had 

 recognized, from particular and well-known marks, certain indi- 

 viduals for upwards of forty years that invariably returned to 

 the same spot to breed. It is likewise long in arriving at a state 

 of maturity. Selby fixes the time as four years ; but I was in- 

 formed by the present tenant of the Bass that it is five, and, 

 from the varieties in plumage which different individuals present, 

 I can readily believe it. There has been some discussion as to 

 whether the Solan Goose does or does not possess external nostrils ; 

 but, from a careful examination of specimens in every stage of 

 growth, I have satisfied myself that they are never present at any 

 period of its existence. 



The young bird when first hatched is naked, and of a greyish 

 slate-colour, which varies in intensity in different parts of the 

 body. The space round the eye and the skin over the oil-gland 

 are yellowish white ; the bill is horn-coloured at the tip, and the 

 upper mandible is provided with a scale, which soon disappears. 

 The down begins to make its appearance very rapidly, but is at 

 first confined to the upper parts. This stage of the nestling's 



