BIRDS OF XEAV YORK 1 69 



Length 30 inches; extent 50; wing 14. 5-16. 5; tail 6.5-9.5; l^i^l 3-25-4; 

 gape 5 ; tarsus 1.5-1.9; middle toe and claw 3.5. 



The Booby inhabits the tropical seas of America and sometimes strag- 

 gles northward to the coast of New York and New England. A specimen 

 in the collection of the Long Island Historical Society was taken on Moriches 

 bay, Long Island [sec Dutcher, A\ik, 10:270]. Its occurrence in this State 

 was purely accidental. 



Sula bassana (Linnaeus) 

 Gannet 



Plate 9 



Peiecanus bassanus Linnaeus. Syst. Nat. Ed. 10. 1758. i : 133 

 Sula a m e r i c a n a DcKay. Zool. \. Y. 1844. pt 2, p. 295, fig. 269 

 S VI 1 a bassana A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 2. 1895. ^o. 117 



bassd'tta, of Bass rock, the famous nesting site of the species 



Description. White; primaries and their coverts blackish; head and 

 neck washed with light yellow; bill bluish gra}-; lores, gular sack and feet 

 blackish; iris yellowish white. Young: grayish brown, spotted with white; 

 belly mostly white; bill and feet dusky; iris green. 



Length 30-40.5 inches; extent 72; wing 17-21; tail 9-10; ])ill 4; ga])e 6; 

 tarsus 2 ; middle toe and claw 4. 



The Gannet occurs on our coast as a regular spring and fall migrant 

 March 20 to Mav 10, and October 5 to December 20; and a few are observed 

 in winter, "3 to 4 miles out over the cod grounds." (3n rare occasions 

 it wanders to the interior of the State. At Canton, X. Y., December 10, 

 1879, a specimen was captured on the Grasse river [see Lee, N. O. C. Bid. 

 5 :i9o]; on Saratoga lake, November II, 1880 [see (Rich) Merriam O. & O. 

 6:96]. 



The Gannet or Solan goose inhabits the North Atlantic, breeding on 

 rocky cliffs from Nova Scotia northward, es])ecially Bird Rock in the Gulf 

 of St Lawrence, and Bass Rock, Firth of Forth. They feed on fish, which 

 they secure by diving from a considerable hight in the air and pursuing 

 under water. 



