160 BRITAIN'S BIRDS AND THEIR NESTS. 



Among other external features we may note that all 

 four toes are included in the web, in the manner charac- 

 teristic of the members of the Pelican family, and that the 

 wings are long and pointed, and capable of carrying even 

 this large bird in easy and graceful flight. Por, clumsy 

 as it may appear on land, the Gannet is no mean per- 

 former in the air. It can fly powerfully and swiftly ; on 

 occasion it can accomplish dexterous tiurnings and other 

 evolutions, and it is at all times conspicuous on account 

 of its magnificent feats of ' sailing ' or ' soaring."" 



Fish forms the greater part of its food, and its manner 

 of obtaining this is strongly suggestive of the Tern's 

 fishing method. For this reason the Tern receives the 

 name ' Quarter - Gannet "" on parts of the Irish coast. 

 Wheeling at a considerable height above the water, the 

 Solan sees a fish near the surface below it, checks in its 

 course, and, with wings half-closed, plunges headlong on its 

 prey, disappearing with a splash, to emerge in an instant 

 with the victim it has speared. This habit was formerly 

 turned to the bird's disadvantage by the fishermen of some 

 of our northern isles, who, perhaps not unjustly, regarded 

 its competition with disfavom\ A fish was secured to a flat 

 board painted a ' neutral ' tint, and the whole anchored at 

 some suitable spot, and arranged so that it always floated 

 a short distance below the surface of the water. In this 

 way many a hapless Solan was made to break its neck. 



The terra typica of the Solan is of com-se the Bass 

 Rock, that grand, rugged island which rises steeply from 

 the waters of the Firth of Forth. The flocks of white 

 birds which crowd its ledges and sweep the seas around 

 are familiar to all who have ever sailed from or to the 

 port of Leith. Various Auks and Gulls also resort to 

 the rock in the breeding season, but the Solans are the 

 chief feature. The precipitous cliffs of the towering pile 



