398 THE GANNET . 



eases off the shock, is the net-work of subcutaneous 

 air-cells, to be fully described in Chapter XXII., which 



cover the pectoral muscles, and are probably inflated by 

 the mere act of falling through the air. The cut,* taken 



* From " The Bii-ds of Europe," by H. E. Dresser (VT., p. 188). 



