28 THE GANNET 



others, whose narratives must be reserved for considera- 

 tion later on.* 



Representations by the Early Artists. — There are several 

 early representations of the Gannet, but they possess only an 

 antiquarian interest in the present day, and would hardly be 

 referred to in any modern synonymy of the Gannet. The 

 efforts which the early naturalists made in pursuit of learning 

 are worthy of all commendation, and the measure of success 

 which rewarded their attempts to delineate birds in the face 

 of difficulties which an ornithologist of the present generation 

 has not to contend with, was far greater than some of us 

 realise. Before the birth of the great reformer of natural 

 history, the art of cutting on blocks was in its infancy, 

 and there were then no pictures of birds which in the present 

 day would be deemed worth serious study. 



1. Hence, with all desire to praise, one cannot say much 

 for Conrad Gesner's figure, t the earliest attempt to delineate 

 a Gannet; which Brisson (1760) afterwards designated as "icon 

 pessima " ; but it was done 400 years ago, and Gesner's 

 letterpress generally makes up for his artist's somewhat rude 

 handiwork. His Gannet {see the copy of it by Mr. Wilson) 

 has a very blunt beak and a very ragged tail, the former an 



* The Cormorant and Pelican are described in Pierre Belon's " Histoire 

 de la Nature des Oyseaux," 1555, but not the Gannet. 



f " Hist. Animalium," 1555, Lib. III., p. 158. The t'oui- toes are also 

 insufficiently joined together. 



