GANNET 35' 



the Bass Rock ; Ailsa Craig ; Lundy Island, in the Bristol Channel ; 

 Grassholmc, off Pembrokeshire ; and three or four groups of islets off 

 the Irish coast. It will thus be seen that, as with the boobies of the 

 Tropics, all the breeding-places are islands ; among whicii Sulasgeir and 

 Suleskerry take their names from these birds. In winter gannets 

 wander as far south as Mexico on the American, and to the Medi- 

 terranean and North Africa on our own side of the Atlantic, 



Unless when occasionally driven inland by severe storms, gannets, 

 as already mentioned, are denizens of the open sea at all times of the 

 year except the breeding-season. Birds of powerful, rapid, and 

 sustained flight, gannets pass the greater portion of their time on the 

 wing, seldom swimming or floating on the water except when digesting 

 their food or sleeping. When good fishing-grounds are not to be met 

 with in the neighbourhood of their breeding-places, they make long 

 daily journeys in search of supplies ; and it is not uncommon to see 

 them soaring in circles high up in the air. Towards the latter part 

 of March a few gannets begin to make their appearance on the Bass 

 Rock, Ailsa Craig, and other breeding-resorts ; their sojourn at first 

 is indeed only brief, but gradually they stay longer and longer and 

 are reinforced by the arrival of other members of the community, till 

 at length the whole colony settles down seriously to the work of nest- 

 ing. The number of birds which frequent the Bass Rock in the height 

 of the breeding-season has been estimated as about six thousand pairs, 

 and the same total is given for Ailsa Craig. Possibly the estimate in 

 the former instance somewhat understates the real facts of the case, 

 as in the year 1831 the total number of pairs was put down at no 

 less than ten thousand ; and although the hosts are known to have 

 decreased since that date, it is scarcely probable that the diminution 

 would reach a total of four thousand pairs. On the Bull Rock, off 

 the coast of Cork, the number of breeding pairs has been estimated 

 as between two hundred and fifty and three hundred. Nest-building 

 on the Bass begins early in May ; but, as is the case with shags, the 

 task is not undertaken simultaneously by all the birds, and while in 

 some nests the single egg may be well advanced in incubation, others 

 may be empty. The nests on the Bass are made of turf, seaweed, 

 and dry grass, and appear to be added to as incubation proceeds ; but 

 they are frequently so trodden down and so buried in filth that the 

 structure is almost obliterated, which may account for the statement 

 that the eggs are laid on the bare rock. In the height of the season 

 every available ledge has its occupants, from the top of the cliffs, amid 

 crumbling debris, to the precipitous sides, where approach can only be 



