384 PELECANID^. 



in considerable numbers by becoming entangled in the meshes 

 of the fishermen''s long sea nets. 



North of the British Islands the Gannet is found in the 

 Baltic, as high as the Gulf of Bothnia ; on the west coast of 

 Norway ; at the Faroe Islands and Iceland ; while from the 

 coast of Labrador they are said to go as far south as Carolina. 

 Southward from England the Gannet is included among the 

 birds of Madeira and South Africa. 



In the adult bird the bill is of a horny greyish-white ; the 

 edges serrated ; the naked skin of the face blue ; irides pale 

 straw yellow ; the head and neck buflP colour ; all the rest of 

 the plumage white, except the wing primaries, which are 

 black ; the line of the bones of the legs and toes in front 

 green, the other portions of the bones and the connecting 

 membranes almost black. The whole length of the bird 

 about thirty-four inches : from the wrist to the end of the 

 first quill-feather, which is the longest, nineteen inches. 



In the immature bird the beak is almost black ; the naked 

 skin of the face bluish-black ; the general plumage black, 

 varied with lines and triangular spots of dull white, giving 

 the bird very much the appearance of the young of the Red- 

 throated Diver, in one of its stages, but the structure of the 

 foot will prevent them being mistaken for each other. 



