xxvi. THE GANNET 



been a complete puzzle, that of Malagash, commonly 

 applied to the South African Gannet (see p. 544). In the 

 " NcAy English Dictionary " this is given as meaning a 

 native of Madagascar, but Sula capensis is very rare in 

 Madagascar, and is not known to breed there. Malagash 

 is a name which is in universal use in Cape Colony, and as 

 Mr. William Sclater has pointed out it is one possessed of 

 considerable antiquity, being found in Peter Kolbe's " Caput 

 Bonse Spei Hodiernum " (1719, p. 181). 



As regards its Enghsh name, the Gannet was generally 

 termed a Solan Goose in common parlance in the British 

 Isles, although Selby (1825-33) called it the Solan Gannet, 

 in which he was followed by Macgillivray in his " Manual " 

 (1846) ; but that appellation is unusual. Solan Goose is the 

 name employed by Thomas Pennant in four editions 

 of his " British Zoology," a book which was so popular 

 that six editions were called for, and in which there is 

 a good account of the Gannet (8vo ed., 1776, II., p. 612), 

 and a picture by George Edwards of the bird in the 

 act of plunging. In the fifth edition (1812), however, 

 Mr. W. H. Mullens informs me the name is changed to 

 Gannet Corvorant. 



The many ways in which Solan has been spelled have 

 been commented upon (p. 26), and the conclusions 

 of Professor Skeat quoted. It should be pointed out, 

 however, that Solamosse geese in the " Household Books 

 of Naworth Castle " (p. 196) may have been tame Geese 

 sent from Solway Moss, and not Gannets (H. S. Gladstone 

 in "Scottish Naturalist" 1912, p. 90). If not a copyist's 

 error, the word is misleading (c/. "Ann. Scot. N. H." 



