MORTALITY AMONG GANNETS 435 



to hand.* If this be so, and if the Gannet be an increasing 

 species, it follows that the fish which form its food are 

 increasing also. Here is a legitimate argument in favour 

 of the preservation of the Gannet, and an answer to those 

 who recommended the repeal of the Sea-Birds' Preservation 

 Act in Scotland in 1878. 



The Accidents to ivhich Gannets are Liable. — Some species of 

 birds are more singled out for misadventure than others, 

 and I really think this can be said of the Gannet. We 

 may get some faint idea of the multiplicity of accidents 

 which befall bird-life, by briefly reviewing those to Avhich 

 Gannets are liable ; nor would a natural history of this bird 

 be complete without alluding to them. 



Choked by Gurnards. — Probably, when descending on its 

 prey, the Gannet closes the nictitating membrane of the 

 eyes, and, with this curtain to its orbit, it would not always 

 distinguish one fish from another. Accordingly it some- 

 times drops on something unsuitable, such as a gurnard 

 {Trigla gurnardus or T. hi) undo), whose spinous dorsal fin 

 may easily become wedged in the Gannet's throat. The 

 well-known Scotch naturalist, Mr. R. Gray, writes : ''At 

 various times I have discovered dead birds [i.e. Gannets] 

 at the base of the cliffs there [Ailsa Craig], with gurnards 



* Pycraft's "History of Biids," p. 14. 



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