GANNET . 349 



when these caves, as on the Mediterranean where the)' can often be 

 approached only from the sea, are tenanted by a larg^e number of 

 birds, they are indescribably filthy and loathsome. Either caves, as 

 on the Dorsetshire cliffs, or crannies in the rocks serve as nesting- 

 places. May and June constitute the nesting-season in Dorset ; but 

 the period of laying is very irregular, as eggs and nearly full-fledged 

 young may be found at the same time. It has been stated that shags 

 use their wings when diving ; but this is probably incorrect, and, 

 except in the two points mentioned above, they agree in general habits 

 with cormorants. An indication of the depth to which they will dive 

 is afforded by the fact that one has been taken in a crab-pot placed in 

 20 fathoms of water. The eggs are similar to those of the cormorant, 

 but somewhat smaller. 



Gannet Although nearly related to the cormorants, the 



(Sula bassana) gannet, or solan goose, and its relatives are regarded 

 as representing a distinct family — the SuHdae — suffi- 

 ciently characterised by the stout, conical, and pointed beak, in which, 

 when adult, the nostrils are completely obliterated. All the members 

 of this family, among which are included the so-called " boobies " of 

 the Tropics, are large birds with a black and white or brown and 

 white plumage in the adult condition. Young birds, on the other 

 hand, are dark-coloured. In this respect gannets resemble gulls and 

 swans ; and the plumage of the adults may probably be regarded as 

 a persistent breeding-dress, which has been acquired by both sexes. 

 In habits gannets are birds of the open ocean, feeding on fish, and 

 resorting to land only for the breeding-season. They are found in all 

 oceans save those of the Arctic and Antarctic ; Iceland apparently 

 forming the northernmost breeding limit of the European species. 



Considerable interest attaches to the etymology of the names of 

 the gannet, both popular and scientific. In the first place, it may be 

 noted that although the species was scientifically named by the 

 Swedish naturalist Linnaeus, it takes its title bassami from the Bass 

 Rock in the Firth of Forth ; this being doubtless accounted for by 

 the fact that there are no breeding-places in Scandinavia. Sula, it 

 appears in the Scandinavian name of the bird ; and from sula or sola 

 we have " solan," which is not, as might be supposed, an adjective, but 

 merely sola with the article 11 ( = the) added, according to Scandinavian 

 fashion, and thus means " the sola." Gannet, on the other hand, is an 

 Anglo-Saxon name equivalent to the German gans (goose). " Solan 

 goose " is accordingly a term which cannot be defended, and should be 



