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GANNETS BREEDING ON HUESSAY. 



BY 



J. H. GURNEY, F.Z.S. 



An interesting extens'.on of the breeding-range of the 

 Gannet, if it is continued, is announced by Mr. John 

 S. Tulloch, in The Scottish Naturalist for August 

 (page 251). 



We learn from Mr. Tulloch that early in jMay a few 

 Gannets put in an appearance, and four nests were 

 soon constructed on the No up of Noss, on the east side 

 of Bressay. Bressay is a small island on the east of the 

 Shetland group, and as the No up is stated by Mr. Clarke 

 to be a precipitous rock six hundred feet high, these 

 Gannets ought to be safe. 



This new colony is of all the more importance, because 

 none have been thrown ovit for a great many years 

 either by the European or the American Gannets. This 

 is said advisedly, for there can be little doubt that the 

 settlement at Grasholm, although thought to be modern, 

 is not so. 



In the present case we cannot be sure from which 

 Gannet ry these birds came, but it is likely that they 

 belonged to the small settlement in the Faroes, or to 

 the Stack. 



As the taking of young Gannets at St. Kilda has now 

 entirely ceased for some time, it is remarkable that 

 there should have been no attempts at new colonization 

 before. About a thousand, however, are annually 

 gathered on The Stack, by boats which go from Ness 

 in the Lewes. Probably it is to be accounted for by the 

 fact that vast numbers of young Gannets die every year. 

 This cannot be disputed, although no doubt the majority 

 of the young ones are so far reared as to get to sea. 

 Of that anyone standing upon the Bass Rock at the 

 beginning of September has ample proof, but three- 

 quarters of them must perish in a few months' time. 

 If it were not so, far more young ones in the black 



