THE GANNET 



[ORDER: Ciconiiformes. SUBORDER: Steganopodes. FAMILY: Sulidce] 

 PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 



[F. C. B. JOTTRDAIN. F. B. KIRKMAN. W. P. PYCRAFT. A. L. THOMSON] 



GANNET [Stila bassdna (Linnaeus). Solan goose, Johnny Gant; Channel 

 goose (Devon). French, fou de Bassan ; German, Bass-tolpel ; Italian, no 

 popular name]. 



1. Description. 1 The gannet is always to be distinguished from the Cor- 

 morants by its pointed beak, that of the latter having a conspicuous hook at the tip. 

 The sexes are alike, and there is a slight seasonal change of plumage. (PI. 172.) 

 Length 33 in. [838 mm.]. The whole plumage is white save the wing quills, which 

 are dark brown, not black as stated by Howard Saunders and others, and a buff 

 tinge on the head and neck which is assumed in the spring. The iris is creamy 

 white or grey. The eye-rim, of smooth leather-like skin, is slate-blue. The beak 

 pale lead-blue, with deeper slate-coloured lines. The feet and toes dark slate- 

 coloured, relieved by narrow lines of bluish green proceeding along the ridge of each 

 toe and up the tarsus, towards the top of which they meet. Webs slate-coloured, 

 so also the inside of the mouth. The juvenile dress is of a blackish slate spotted 

 with white, but the spots speedily disappear. The young in down is white. The 

 first feather plumage is blackish brown thickly spotted white. The bird is 

 immature till the third or fourth year, during which period the blackish brown 

 gives way gradually to the white of the adult. 2 [w. P. P.] 



2. Distribution. This species breeds in large colonies on precipitous islands 

 off the coasts of Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. The only English breeding-place 

 (Lundy Island) is now deserted, and there is only a single Welsh colony on Grasholm, 

 Pembrokeshire. In Scotland the Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth, Ailsa Craig in the 



1 Some of the details in this description are from observations of the living bird by 

 F. B. Kirkman. 



3 In captivity the adult plumage was acquired in 2| years (J. H. Gurney). 



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