208 



HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



proper place, at the first signal given each 

 flies a different way to fulfil the task assigned 

 it. It is very pleasant, on this occasion, to 

 behold with what sagacity they portion out 

 the lake or the canal where they are upon 

 duty. They hunt about, they plunge, they 

 rise a hundred times to the surface, until they 

 have at last found their prey. They then 

 seize it with their beak by the middle, and 

 carry it without fail to their master. When 

 the fish is too large, they then give each other 

 mutual assistance: one seizes it by the head, 

 the other by the tail, and in this manner carry 

 it to the boat together. There the boatman 

 stretches out one of his long oars, on which 

 they perch, and being delivered of their bur- 

 den, they fly off to pursue their sport. When 

 they are wearied, he lets them rest for a 

 while ; but they are never fed till their work 

 is over. In this manner, they supply a very 

 plentiful table ; but still their natural gluttony 

 cannot be reclaimed even by education. They 

 have always while they fish the same string 

 fastened round their throats, to prevent them 

 from devouring their prey, as otherwise they 

 would at once satiate themselves, -and discon- 

 tinue their pursuit the moment they had filled 

 their bellies." 



As for the rest, the cormorant is the best 

 fisher of all birds ; and though fat and heavy 

 with the quantity it devours, is nevertheless 

 generally upon the wing. The great activity 

 with which it pursues, and from a vast height 

 drops down to dive after its prey, offers one 

 of the most amusing spectacles to those who 

 stand upon a cliff on the shore. This large 

 bird is seldom seen in the air, but where there 

 are fish below 5 but then they must be near 

 the surface, before it will venture to souse upon 

 them. If they are at a depth beyond what 

 the impetus of its flight makes the cormorant 

 capable of diving to, they certainly escape 

 him ; for this bird cannot move so fast under 

 water, as the fish can swim. It seldom, how- 

 ever, makes an unsuccessful dip ; and is often 

 seen rising heavily, with a fish larger than it 

 can readily devour. It sometimes also hap- 

 pens, that the cormorant has caught the fish 

 by the tail ; and consequently the fins prevent 

 its being easily swallowed in that position. 

 In this case, the bird is seen to toss its prey 

 above its head, and very dexterously to catch 

 it, when descending, by the proper end, and 

 so swallow it with ease. 



CHAP. V. 



OF THE GANNET, OR SOLAN GOOSE. 



THE Gannet is of the size of a tame goose, 

 but its wings much longer, being six feet 



1 Although the Gannet (or, as it is more frequently 

 called in Scotland, the Solan Goose) deserts its breeding 

 stations and the northern coasts of the kingdom upon the 

 approach of autumn, it is occasionally found throughout 

 the winter in the English channel, where it keeps at a 

 distance from the land, feeding upon the pilchards and 

 herrings, which at that season retire to the deeper parts 

 of the ocean. The main body of these birds, however, 

 appears to seek more southern latitudes, as they are met 

 with in great numbers during winter in the Bay of Bis- 

 cay, on the coasts of Spain and Portugal, and in the Me- 

 diterranean ; and here they find an abundant supply of 

 the anchovy and sardine, both species of Clupea (her- 

 ring). They generally make their appearance about the 

 end of March or beginning of April, in the vicinity of 

 their breeding stations : these are the isle of Ailsa, at 

 the mouth of the Frith of Clyde; St Kilda; Souliskerry 

 near the Orkneys ; the Skelig isles upon the Irish coast, 

 and the Bass Rock at the entrance of the Frith of Forth. 

 Upon the precipitous rocks of these islands they breed 

 in innumerable multitudes, occupying all the ledges 

 and summits wherever they find sufficient space for the 

 nest, which is formed of a mass of sea-weed, and other 

 materials, which they either find on the rocky clifls, or 

 gather from the surface of the sea as they pass on the 

 wing. They lay but one egg each (not two, as stated 

 by Temminck), exceeding in size that of the cormo- 

 rant, but much less than the egg of the common goose, 

 with which it has been compared. Its colour, when first 

 laid, is white, but it soon becomes soiled, and as incu- 

 bation proceeds, acquires a yellowish or clay-coloured ap- 

 pearance. The young, when hatched, are naked, their 

 skin smooth and of bluish-black, but covered in a few 

 days with a white down, which, growing rapidly, soon 

 becomes very thick, giving them in this state the ap- 

 pearance of large powder-pufls, or masses of cotton. 

 Over this warm clothing, the regular plumage gradually 

 extends ; and after about two months they are fully 

 fledged and able to take wing. Great numbers of the 

 young birds are annually taken upon the Bass Rock, not 

 merely on account of the feathers ami down, for the 

 bodies are also sold in the neighbouring towns, and in 

 the Edinburgh market, at the rate of Is. 8d. each, 

 being much esteemed, when roasted, as a relish 

 a short time before the hour of dinner. Their flesh 

 is very oily and rank, and though habit has recon- 

 ciled the Scotch to such an unusual whet, few stran- 

 gers would find their appetites increased, after par- 

 taking of such a dish. This precipitous rock (the 

 Bass} is rented from the proprietor at 60 or 7Q 



