342 THE GANNET 



Before alighting on their nests, Mr. Bonar has remarked 

 that they ahvays utter a cry or call-note. Gannets sit by 

 preference with the beaks towards the cliff, and not pointing 

 seawards, which may be to save their tails from abrasion.* 



The so-called Barren Gannets. — Gannets — that is, adults — 

 are not infrequently to be seen in summer so far from any 

 breeding place as to imply that they cannot have any 

 intention of nesting ; while others remain at the breeding 

 places, but, as Martin long ago pointed out, they sit apart, 

 and are thought not to have any nests. These bachelors 

 have often been noticed, yet there is no reason to 

 limit them to one sex, for some may be females. A 

 considerable number, as I was assured by Mr. Laidlaw, 

 have been in the habit of frequenting a particular grass 

 slope on the northern side of the Bass, all of which were 

 looked upon by him as being non-breeders, yet some, 

 perhaps, may have been merely practising a forced 

 abstention, owing to the particular nesting-sites on which they 

 had set their wishes being already occupied by others. 



The Egg. — The change which comes over the nature of 

 birds at the breeding season is singular. Restless Gannets, 

 which spend the whole day on the wing, are now content 

 to brood tlieir one egg, sitting almost motionless for 



* A pair wliicli I had in a walled-in garden generally faced towai-ds the 

 wall, as if it reminded thom of their own cliffs. 



