CHAPTER XIII. 



THE NESTLING. 



Hatching and Rearing of the Nestling — Young Gannets and 

 their Avays — The Periods which make up a young Gannet's 

 existence. 



The Nestling. — An admirable account of the successive 

 stages in a young Gannet's life, from its earliest 

 growth onwards, is given in Booth's " Rough Notes on 

 Birds."* These day-by-day memoranda were principally 

 taken from one bred on an artificial pond in Mr. Booth's 

 walled-in garden at Brighton, where I had the pleasure on 

 two occasions of being introduced to his live birds, but 

 do not distinctly remember the young Gannet. A short 

 quotation may be made from the journal kept during the 

 interesting period of this nursling's juvenescence : — - 



" 30th. [June, 1880.] The glimpse that was obtained 

 of the [Gannet's] egg showed that it was cracked and chipped. 

 July 1st. In the morning, the young bird (a small black 

 shapeless monstrosity resembling a toad) was partly clear 



* Vol. III. (1883). 



