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G A N N E T. 



a considerable height it observes its prey, and darts 

 upon it with amazing velocity and force : its nest is a 

 rude and large assemblage of all sorts of materials, as it 

 lays hold of any thing fit for the purpose, whether on 

 the land or floating on the waters, as grass, sea-weeds, 

 shavings of timber, shreds of cloth, and frequently ar- 

 ticles picked up at a very considerable distance, or 

 else from the nests of its neighbours. The female 

 lays two eggs, but occasionally only one, which are 

 white, of a rough surface, a long shape, and remarkably 

 small for the size of the bird, being scarcely larger 

 than those of a duck. The male and female incubate, 

 and by turns go out fishing. It is reported currently, 

 though erroneously, that they not only hatch their soli- 

 tary egg by means of their foot, but that they place it 

 on one end in such a manner, that if a person over- 

 turn it, he cannot make it stand as before. Dr. Har- 

 vey, the celebrated naturalist, who visited the Bass, 

 and has described it in very elegant latinity, strangely 

 enough asserts the latter circumstance. Under their 

 bill, in the dilatable skin, these birds can fetch four or 

 five herrings at a time, besides sprats, which the 

 young extract from the mouth of the parents, with 

 their bill, as with pincers. The young are begun to 

 be taken in August, and are relished by some as a 

 delicate morsel, but the older ones are tough and 

 rancid. The fowler who seizes the young, is often let 

 down by a rope, from the top of a cliff, and is some- 

 times stationed on the slippery projection of a rock, 

 with a perpendicular precipice of more than 400 feet 

 beneath him. About New Holland and New Zea- 

 land, gannets are said to be met with in great abun- 

 dance. On the coast of Newfoundland they also 

 breed, and migrate southward along the American 

 shores, as far as South Carolina. They unite in 

 small flocks of from five to fifteen in number, when 

 they pass from one place to another ; and except in 

 very fine weather, they fly low near the shore, 

 doubling the capes and projecting parts, and keeping 

 nearly at an equal distance from the land. They rise 

 high into the air during their fishing, and sail aloft 

 over the shoals of herrings and pilchards, much in the 

 same manner as kites. When they observe the shoal 

 thickly crowded together, they close their wings to 

 their side, and precipitate themselves head foremost 

 into the water, dropping almost like a stone. In this 

 act they never fail to rise with a fish in their mouth, 

 their eye being so correct. 



The following account given by the late colonel 

 Montagu, of the habits and structure of the gannet, 

 is interesting as among the most circumstantial that 

 has been published, more especially as the veracity of 

 the narrator is above all question : " A gannet," says 

 colonel Montagu, " was brought to us alive on the 

 twentieth of March, in the year 1807 ; it took no kind 

 of food for seven days ; it was then crammed with both 

 fish and flesh, and soon after began to devour all 

 white fish greedily, but did not choose to pick up 

 even a plaice when the back was uppermost. It was 

 remarked, that when the bill was held so as to close 

 the mandibles for a considerable time, respiration be- 

 came laborious, there being no nostrils. When the 

 bird was placed on the water of a pond, nothing could 

 induce him to attempt to dive ; and from the manner 

 of his putting the bill, and sometimes the whole head 

 under water, as if searching for fish, it appears that 

 their prey is frequently taken in that manner. It is 

 probable more fish are caught in their congregated 

 migrations, when the shoals are near the surface, than 



by their descent upon wing ; for the herrings, pil- 

 chards, mackerel, and other gregarious fishes, cannot 

 at that time avoid their enemy, who is floating in the 

 midst of profusion. In the act of respiration, there 

 appears to be always some air propelled between the 

 skin and the body of this bird, as a visible expansion 

 and contraction is observed about the breast ; and this 

 singular conformation makes the bird so buoyant, that 

 itfloats high on the water, and does not sink beneath the 

 surface, as observed in the cormorant and shag. The 

 legs are not placed so far behind as in such of the 

 feathered tribe as procure their subsistence by immer- 

 sion ; the gannet, consequently, has the centre of 

 gravity placed more forward ; and when standing, the 

 body is nearly horizontal like a goose, and not erect 

 like a cormorant. 



" Having, by the dissection of a specimen of ihe 

 gannet for preservation, noticed the slight and partial 

 adhesion of the skin to the flesh of the whole under 

 parts of the body, we availed ourselves of the oppor- 

 tunity of paying more attention to the structure of 

 this bird, and, by experiments, endeavoured to dis- 

 cover to what extent, and upon what principle, the 

 inflation of the body was performed. The appear- 

 ance of so singular a conformation, brought to recol- 

 lection what Buffon relates of the pelican ; who re- 

 marks, that from the lungs the air passes through 

 auxiliary pipes into a thick vesicular cellular mem- 

 brane, that covers the muscles and envelopes the 

 body. The structure, however, of the gannet, al- 

 though probably intended for similar purposes, is very 

 different from that of the pelican, according to the 

 relation of that naturalist. The bill of the gannet 

 differs from that of most birds, for it is not only des- 

 titute of nostrils, but on each side of the upper man- 

 dible, towards the base, is a dentation that divides 

 the margin, and thus admits of considerable motion. 

 It has been customary to describe the gannet as 

 possessing a large pouch, like the pelican, under the 

 chin, capable of containing five or six herrings ; but 

 this is erroneous. The gullet (oesophagus} is extremely 

 capacious, and the skin, from the chin downwards, 

 extending along the neck, is equally capable of dila- 

 tion, so that five or six fishes, equal in size to that of 

 a herring, might be contained in the gullet and sto- 

 mach ; for there appears to be very little difference 

 between them ; or, in other words, the stomach is a 

 continuation of the gullet (oesophagus], with little or no 

 stricture or division. 



" It is well known that many birds regurgitate 

 with much ease and facility ; and that instinct points 

 out to them the necessity of preparing the food in- 

 tended for the nourishment of the young in the re- 

 ceptacle, usually termed the craw : in this manner the 

 gannet, having none, can readily disgorge the con- 

 tents of its stomach to satisfy its young. By com- 

 parative anatomy it has been clearly demonstrated 

 that birds in general are provided with air vessels in 

 different parts of the body, and that many of their 

 bones are not destitute of this contrivance, admirably 

 fitted for increasing their levity, and consequent 

 buoyancy, as well as progressive motion through that 

 element in which they are intended principally to 

 move ; and that, too, with a velocity that far surpasses 

 all other parts of animated nature. Mr. John Hun- 

 ter (in the Transactions of the Royal Society) proves 

 that the air-cells, in the parts already mentioned, 

 have a free communication with the lungs, by means 

 of openings on their surface, through which the air 



