160 PELECANIDiE. 



garden early iu March, 1879. On the 4th May it was found 

 that the female was covering an egg, but some younger 

 Gannets in the same enclosure dragged away some of the 

 materials of the nest and smashed the egg. In 1880 another 

 nest was made, and an egg was noticed on the 19th of May. 

 The young bird, " a small black shapeless monstrosity, 

 resembling a toad," was hatched on the 1st July; and on 

 the 7th it showed the eyes open, the irides dark hazel, the 

 beak a dull slate, white at the point, and a slight sprinkle of 

 down on the head. By the 11th of August it was fully 

 covered with down ; tail-feathers began to show on the 18th, 

 and by the 17th of September very little down remained. 

 On the 2nd of October the young bird was fed by its 

 parents for the last time ; and Mr. Booth says that he was 

 told by the natives of Canty Bay that the old birds take no 

 notice of the young after they leave the nest. 



Occasionally the down remains latest on the head and 

 neck, giving the bird the appearance of wearing a long wig ; 

 and an excellent illustration of this quaint stage, in which 

 it is known as a " Parliamentary Goose," is given in Mr. 

 Booth's book. From the experiences of that gentleman, and 

 from the investigations of the Editor at the Bass, the suc- 

 cessive plumages may be briefly described as follows : — 



In the bird of the first year the bill is almost black ; the 

 general plumage mottled dusky- ash and buif below, and 

 blackish-brown above, flecked with white. In the second 

 year the underparts are principally white, the head and neck 

 being streaked with ash-brown ; wings and mantle still dark, 

 with fewer white spots. The third year the head and neck 

 are white with a little tinge of buff", and the mantle is diversi- 

 fied with white, especially on the scapulars and secondaries ; 

 tail also shows some white ; bill nearly white. During the 

 fourth and fifth years the white gradually increases and per- 

 vades the upper parts, and iu the sixth year the bird attains 

 full plumage. In the adult bird the bill is of a horny- 

 white ; the naked skin of the face bluish-black; irides pale 

 straw-yellow ; the head and neck bufi'-colour, which increases 

 with age ; all the rest of the plumage white, except the 



