102 THE GANNET 



and it proved to be just the same at the Bass Rock after- 

 wards. This position may be assumed in part to save their 

 long tails from abrasion. If there is any current of wind 

 they would naturally by preference turn towards it to keep 

 their plumage smooth, but failing that, they face the cliff. 



Fish eaten by Gannets. — Many of the Gannets were 

 evidently at sea, fishing for themselves or their sitting 

 mates, and Mr. Thomson and I could see them coming in 

 from a distance ; a very long way off their white forms may be 

 viewed as in parties of four or five they wing their straight 

 course homewards, each of them probably bearing a gullet 

 full of fish. The extensive Ballantrae herring bank, which 

 is so near at hand, covering fifteen miles or more, must be a 

 very convenient fishing ground for these Ailsa Gannets, and 

 it is not to be wondered at that their proceedings at times 

 excite some jealousy among the local fishermen. Many a 

 pound of fish is daily brought to the Craig, fresh from the 

 salt waters of the Firth of Clyde, as nutriment for their 

 mates and young. If it is for themselves the fish takes a little 

 time to digest, and for a period the old birds are to be seen, 

 satiated with their repast, quietly dozing on their ledges until 

 it is time to be hungry again and seek another meal. One 

 old Gannet, which I suspect had not long returned to its 

 ledge, was so alarmed, on suddenly seeing my head between 

 herself and the sky, that she disgorged her dinner, consisting 



