562 PELECANID^E. 



dangerous. The Frigate Pelican [The Skua ?] often chases 

 a successful Gannet till the terrified bird disgorges its 

 prey, which the pursuer seizes before it reaches the 

 water." 



"A Solan Goosa to most people would not afford a 

 delicious meal, being a rank, coarse, fishy dish ; but many 

 of the poorer classes eat them with a relish nay, as a 

 delicacy and during the winter would fare ill had they 

 not these birds for food." 



The Gannet lays but one egg; and the young bird 

 is nourished on semi-liquid food disgorged by the 

 parent On its first exclusion from the egg its skin is 

 naked, and of a .bluish black hue, but is soon covered 

 with a white down. Through this the true feathers 

 appear, which are black, the adult plumage being pure 

 white. 



For an interesting account of the capture of these birds 

 at St. Kilda, the reader is referred to Professor James 

 Wilson's "Voyage round the Coast of Scotland." From 

 a calculation once made of the number of Gannets con- 

 sumed by each family in a year, on this island, it appeared 

 that the total secured, not taking into account a large 

 number which could not be reached for various reasons, 

 was 22,600 ; and this number was considered to be below 

 the average, the season being a bad one. 



THE CASPIAN TERN. 



STERNA CASPIA. 



Summer Bill stout, bright red ; upper parts of the head and elongated feathers 

 black ; upper plumage bluish ash ; quills and tail ash-brown ; cheeks and 

 under plumage white ; irides yellowish brown ; feet black. Length twenty- 

 one inches. Eggs greyish green, blotched with brown and black. 



THE Caspian Tern, as its name indicates, is most abundant 

 about the Caspian Sea ; but it is found also in the Baltic 

 Sea, in several parts of the Mediterranean, in Switzerland, 

 and as far south as the Cape of Good Hope. It is said to 



