■84 Mr. L. E. Taylor — Notes from Cape Colony. 



usually confined to the mountainous districts of South Africa 

 and has been recorded from Tigerhoek in the Caledon District. 



SuLA CAPENSis.— On the 17th June, 1906, the beach between 

 Muizenberg and Strandfontein in False Bay was lined with 

 thousands of heads and wings of Gannets. They were washed 

 up by the tide and lay almost touching each other every 

 few yards. The sea was very calm at the time and I cannot 

 account for their presence in such very large numbers. As 

 far as I could ascertain, they had not been killed by the fisher- 

 men, though the latter often do kill a few for the sake of the 

 feathers, but never in such a wholesale manner as this. All 

 the birds were in adult plumage, and at this season of the 

 year they are always at sea and not on the breeding-islands. 



On the 31st December, 1907, 1 was fortunate enough to be 

 able to pay a visit to Bird Island, in Algoa Bay, and my visit 

 was of exceptional interest, as the breeding-season for Gannets 

 and other birds was in full swing. The sight of countless 

 numbers of Gannets breeding on such a small area is one never 

 to be forgotten, but as it has already been so often described I 

 will merely mention one or two points of interest. 



Everyone who sees the birds packed in a solid mass on the 

 ground wonders how they ever find their own eggs or young 

 ones, yet they seem to alight right on their nests without any 

 difficulty. After carefully watching the birds for about tw o 

 hours, seated within a few yards of them, I noticed, however, 

 that they do not alight directly on their nests, but often 

 several yards away and are at once set upon by all the birds 

 near, who give the unfortunate intruder vicious pecks on its 

 head until it moves on and finds its own nest. As soon as 

 the bird arrives at its nest a most comical performance is 

 gone through, this bird and the one I took to be its mate 

 rubbing their necks together for several seconds with their 

 beaks pointing up in the air. A proceeding very similar to 

 this is described in the " Birds of the South Orkney Islands " 

 (' Ibis,' ser. 8, vol. vi. p. 154) under Ringed Penguins, and 

 the birds on the left of the illustration which faces page 

 152 exhibit exactly the attitude of the Gannets which I 

 have endeavoured to describe. It seems probable to me 



