THE GANNET 365 



and may frequently be noticed fishing near the 

 shore, under the lea of some headland or cliff 

 where the water is deep and fish are plentiful. 



The gannet, otherwise known as the solan 

 goose, is perhaps the most interesting of the 

 three varieties of cormorant. It breeds on 

 Lundy Island, in Wales, several parts of the 

 coast of Scotland, and also in Ireland. I have 

 seen them in countless numbers off the West 

 coast of Scotland. The Bass Rock on the 

 Eastern coast is a well-known resort of these 

 birds. It is most interesting to watch a number 

 of gannets when fishing. Hovering in the air 

 at an immense height from the water, they appear 

 to fall rather than to swoop, so direct and sudden 

 is the action, down on to their prey, the splash of 

 the water being visible from a long distance, the 

 birds rising and falling like a shower of snowballs. 

 The difference of plumage between the adult and 

 young birds is very marked. In the former the 

 head and neck are of a yellowish-white, the rest 

 of the plumage being white, with the exception 

 of the longer wing-feathers (the primaries), which 

 are black. In the latter the upper parts are dark 

 brown spotted with white, the under parts being 

 white thickly covered with dark brown spots. 

 In length it measures from thirty to thirty-four 

 inches. The bill is of a different shape to that 

 of either the common cormorant or the shag, 

 being more pointed, and, although slightly curved 

 downwards, without the hook at the tip, so 

 marked a characteristic of those birds. 



