THE AGES OF BIRDS 451 



a short-lived bird. The stock on a manor is often found 

 to be quite unaccountably reduced, from no assignable cause, 

 except the theoretical one of early natural death. On the 

 other hand the Puffin (Fratercula arctica) ought by rule 

 to be very long-lived, for it only lays one egg, and yet 

 is probably the most abundant bird in Europe. Whether 

 it is or not, none can say.* 



The Age Attainable by Gannets. — Intimately connected 

 with the subject of Gannet mortality referred to in the last 

 chapter, is the age attainable by these birds. If we could 

 arrive at some certainty about the latter, we should be 

 nearer to understanding the former, but great difficulties 

 present themselves. If a Gannet has passed the dangerous 

 first twelve months, there seems no reason why, apart from 

 accidents, it should not live a hundred and fifty years.f 

 And if it be so, it would naturally go on breeding nearly 

 to the end, for life in animals does not greatly outlast the 

 period of reproduction. 



That Gannets are long-lived has been looked upon as 

 a recognised fact at the Bass Rock from early times. It 



* See p. 329. A Puffin twenty-one years old in the Faeroes, was known 

 to H. C. Miiller (C. B. Ticehurst, "British Birds," III., p. 117). 



f A Gannet dissected by Mr. C. J. Maynard was believed to have laid 

 about one hundred and forty eggs, and this was judged to be so from the 

 fact that the ovaries w^ere nearly depleted, there being about one hundred 

 and forty ruptured capsules, among which were interspersed comparatively 

 few ovules (" Contributions to Science," 1889, p. 152). This miLst have 

 been an old bird, for a Gannet does not iLSually lay more than one egg in 

 a year. 



FF 2 



