THE GANNET 375 



to develop a magnificent covering of thick white woolly down 

 (PI. LXXIIL), and in this imperial garb it grows to be as big and 

 much fatter than its parents. Its subsequent changes of plumage are 

 described in the " Classified Notes," and illustrated on PL LXXIII. 



Young gannets, like the nestlings of other species breeding on 

 cliff ledges, are singularly lethargic ; they move little except under 

 compulsion, and are thereby no doubt saved from the ever-present 

 danger of falling from the cliff. Some do fall, especially when 

 alarmed ; their attention being then so much occupied with the 

 danger in front that they do not perceive the danger behind soon 

 enough to avoid slipping over the edge and rolling down the rocks 

 to the sea. 



Young gannets remain on their ledges for about three months or 

 more after birth. The earliest born are fledged about the middle of 

 August. The usual month for departure is September, but the latest 

 born are not ready to go till November. During the last days of its 

 stay, each bird exercises its wings by vigorous flapping. It is possibly 

 stimulated to depart by hunger, for, as is the case with other species, 

 the parents slacken in their efforts to find food for it, or desert alto- 

 gether. The stimulus is occasionally of a more direct nature, and is 

 provided by the parent bird in the shape of the head-pinching and 

 wringing above mentioned. One young bird was seen by Mr. J. M. 

 Campbell to quit the Bass Rock only after its head and neck had been 

 made almost raw. The fledgling's first flight is somewhat unsteady, 

 but suffices to take it some hundreds of yards, or even out of sight, 

 before it drops with a splash into the sea ; it is said to remain afloat 

 for several days, entirely abandoned by its parents, and living on its 

 own stored up fat. Mr. J. M. Campbell, on the other hand, tells me 

 that young gannets soon find their wings, unless injured in the first 

 descent, but this part of the life-history of the species has yet to be 

 closely observed. When the bird finally rises from the water, there 

 comes to it what must prove one of the most exciting moments of its 

 life, the attempt to capture its first fish. This is no doubt, as in the 



