882 PELECANID.E. 



eyes. Face and throat naked. Nostrils basal, linear, hidden. Legs short, 

 strong, placed rather backward ; three toes in front, one behind, articulated to 

 the inner surface of the tarsus, all four toes united by membrane ; claw of the 

 middle toe pectinated. Wings long, first quill-feather the longest. Tail 

 cuneiform. 



The Gannet is a constant resident on our coast, but with 

 considerable change of locality depending on the season of 

 the year. The breeding stations at which the largest quan- 

 tities congregate during spring and autumn are, Lundy Is- 

 land, off the coast of Devon, where one spot is called Gannet 

 Cove, from the numbers which resort there ; the Skelig Isles, 

 off the county of Kerry, west of Ireland ; the Isle of Ailsa, 

 at the mouth of the Frith of Clyde ; St. Kilda in the Outer 

 Hebrides ; Souliskerry near the Orkneys ; and, on the east 

 coast, the Bass Rock in the Frith of Forth. These stations 

 are inhabited by many thousands. 



This last-named precipitous rock, ]\Ir. Selby says, " is 

 rented from the proprietor at sixty or seventy pounds per 

 annum, and as the proceeds chiefly depend upon the produce 

 of the Gannets, great care is taken to protect the old birds, 

 which the tenant is enabled to do from the privilege possessed 

 by the proprietor, of preventing any person from shooting, or 

 otherwise destroying them within a certain limited distance 

 of the island. From the accounts I have received from the 

 resident there, it appears that the Gannet is a very long-lived 

 bird, as he has recognised, from particular and well-known 

 marks, certain individuals for upwards of forty years, that in- 

 variably returned to the same spot to breed. He also con- 

 firmed to me the time required for this bird to attain ma- 

 turity, namely, four years ; and pointed out several in the 

 different garbs they assume during that period, stating also, 

 that until fully matured, they have never been known to 

 breed. During incubation, in consequence of being unmo- 

 lested, they become very tame ; and, where the nests are 

 easily accessible upon the flat surface of the rock on the south 



