372 THE GANNET 



The arrival on the ledge, though not so noteworthy as the 

 departure, is yet worth attention on account of the impetuosity with 

 which it is frequently performed, if for no other reason. A bird will 

 approach the ledges with a rushing flight, as if about to hurl itself 

 against the rock, and occasionally will, in fact, alight with consider- 

 able violence, or so clumsily as to lose its footing and fall several 

 yards down the face of the cliff before recovering its wings. The 

 inrushing flight is usually accompanied by the wild triumphant 

 "urrahf urrah!" and followed by the display of affection already 

 described. 



The affection that the gannet shows for its mate is not extended 

 to its neighbours. Throughout the breeding season, any approach by 

 one bird towards the nest of another is resented in the most unmis- 

 takable manner, and the mere proximity of one nest to another is 

 itself a sufficient occasion for frequent demonstrations of hostility. 

 There is in a gannet colony and the same applies, with few excep- 

 tions, to other nesting associations of birds none of that " peace and 

 harmony" of which, according to one writer at least, 1 the "most 

 charming descriptions " might be written. 



A gannet expresses anger by puffing out the feathers of the head, 

 which then has almost a square appearance, and by opening its beak 

 in a menacing manner, uttering at the same time its strident urrah f 

 and sometimes also erecting its wings. It is stated by P. von 

 Woldicke, a friend of Naumann, that the circle of blue skin round 

 the eye becomes lighter when the bird is angered. 2 When at close 

 quarters the gannet makes vicious passes at its opponent with its 

 beak, not to peck or strike but to grasp ; but as both combatants seem 

 more anxious to avoid being seized than to seize, they usually draw 

 back their beaks, at the moment of contact, with a lightning speed 

 not surpassed by that of the forward lunge. The beaks once inter- 

 locked, there follows a strenuous tug-of-war. Both birds may lie flat 



1 Prince Kropotkiu, Mutual Aid, 1010, p. 35. 

 J Vogel Mitteleuropas, xi. p. 41, col. 2. 



