408 THE GANNET 



ascent through the water following the dive, their air-cells 

 would be an advantage, if the Gannet possesses the power 

 of again expanding them ; and possibly that is so, which 

 would account for their sometimes bringing a net to the 

 surface. The agility of Gannets in the sea is very remark- 

 able, considering what unwieldy birds they are on land. A 

 friend of Mr. Laidlaw repeatedly saw a Gannet dive on one 

 side of a net, and come up on the other without getting 

 entangled, indicating their vision under water to be nearly 

 as acute as it is in the air, and also implying great skill 

 in avoiding the net. 



The most remarkable story about the diving of Gannets, — 

 and one which has been questioned, although William 

 Thompson regarded it as " fully proven," — is narrated 

 by that author in Charles worth's " Magazine of Natural 

 History " (1838, p. 19), and subsequently in " The Natural 

 History of Ireland."* Thompson, having heard from two 

 friends that they had seen great numbers of Gannets which 

 had been taken at extraordinary depths in fishermen's nets 

 near Ballantrae, on the coast of Ayrshire, made particular 

 enquiries from the postmaster of the village, with whom he 

 was already acquainted, and from him learned that " Gannets 

 are very commonly caught about Ballantrae (chiefly in the 

 month of March) in the fishermen's nets, which are generally 



* " Birds," III., p. 258. 



