382 



THE GANNET 



causing the wind and its own pinions to be brought into 

 sharp contact, resulting in a loud vibration.* 



The Sleep of Oannets. — The sleep of birds is not a subject 

 which has attracted much attention, but all birds presumably 



GANNET ASLEEP. 



do sleep, and it can hardly be doubted that soaring birds 

 sometimes sleep on the wing, the Gannet among the number. 



* One of the most extraordinary sounds produced in this way is the 

 resounding " whLsh " which a Puffin makes when it comes down from the 

 top of a lofty hill like Ailsa Craig. Divers (Colymbi), says Professor 

 Newton, also will descend from a height with a noise like thunder 

 ("Dictionary of Birds," p. 153). 



