THE BASS ROCK 241 



vicinity of, the Bass,* while still further was their well-doing 

 insured in 1905 by the County Council of Haddington 

 extending their close time from August 1st to November 

 1st, throughout the islands under their jurisdiction. 



Nidification. — A great deal might be said on this head, but 

 it will be better to reserve the nidification of the Gannets 

 for a subsequent chapter. The young ones used to be taken 

 early in August. In 1768 they were advertised in Edinburgh 

 market on August 5th, f but at some other breeding places 

 they were not considered ripe until September 1st. Much, 

 of course, depended on whether or not their first layings of 

 eggs had been taken. In 1906 very few young ones had 

 left the Bass on September 1st, but they were passing the 

 stage at which they were fattest. In 1909 Mr. J. Campbell 

 of the lighthouse saw the first young one on May 15th, on 

 the other hand, in 1907 Mr. H. N. Bonar could only find 

 five hatched on June 17th. The usual nesting material is 

 sea- weed, but on August 21st of that year Mr. Evans 

 noticed that the Gannets were busy carrying straw — 

 of which a quantity happened to be floating close to the 

 Rock — to their nests, where they could be seen tucking it 



* Yet in "The Field " of August 12th, 1893, C. T. writes of the finding 

 of a heap of empty cartridge cases on the Bass, and of seeing the dead 

 bodies of sundry old Gannets lying about on the Rock. 



I See Thos. Pennant, " Tour in Scotland," i., p. 61. 



