jjuO A HISTORY OF 



most to the point, where it inclines down, and the sides are irregu.ur 

 ly jagged, that it may hold its prey with greater security. It differ 

 from the cormorant in size, being larger ; and its colour, which ia 

 chiefly white ; and by its having no nostrils, but in their place a long 

 furrow that reaches almost to the end of the bill. From the corner 

 of the mouth is a narrow slip of black bare skin, that extends to the 

 hind part of the head; beneath the skin is another, that, like the pouch 

 of the pelican, is dilatable, and of size sufficient to contain five or six 

 entire herrings, which in the breeding season it carries at once to its 

 mate or its young. 



These birds, which" subsist entirely upon fish, chiefly resort to those 

 uninhabited islands, where their food is found in plenty, and men sel 

 dom come to disturb them. The islands to the north of Scotland 

 the Skelig islands of the coasts of Kerry, in Ireland, and those that 

 lie in the north sea off Norway, abound with them. But it is on the 

 Bass island, in the Frith of Edinburgh, where they are seen in the 

 greatest abundance. " There is a small island," says the celebrated 

 Harvey, " called the Bass, not more than a mile in circumference 

 The surface is almost wholly covered during the months of May and 

 June with their nests, their eggs, and young. It is scarcely possible 

 to walk without treading on them : the flocks of birds upon the wing, 

 are so numerous, as to darken the air, like a cloud ; and their noise 

 is such, that one cannot, without difficulty, be heard by the person 

 next to him. When one looks down upon the sea from the precipice, 

 its whole surface seems covered with infinite numbers of birds of dif- 

 ferent kinds, swimming and pursuing their prey. If, in sailing round 

 the island, one surveys its hanging cliffs, in every crag, or fissure of 

 the broken rocks, may be seen innumerable birds, of various sorts 

 and sizes, more than the stars of heaven, when viewed in a serene 

 night. If they are viewed at a distance, either receding, or in their 

 approach to the island, they seem like one vast swarm of bees." 



They are not less frequent upon the rocks of St. Hilda. Martin 

 assures us, that the inhabitants of that small island consume annually 

 near twenty-three thousand young birds of this species, beside an 

 amazing quantity of their eggs. On these they principally subsist 

 throughout the year ; and from the number of these visitants, make 

 an estimate of their plenty for the season. They preserve both the 

 eggs and fowls in small pyramidal stone buildings, covering them with 

 turf ashes, to prevent the evaporation of their moisture. 



The gannet is a bird of passage. In winter it seeks the more 

 southern coasts of Cornwall, hovering over the shoals of herrings and 

 pilchards that then come down from the northern seas ; its first ap- 

 pearance in the northern islands is in the beginning of spring ; and it 

 continues to breed till the end of summer. But, in general, its mo- 

 tions are determined by the migrations of the immense shoals of her- 

 rings that come pouring down at that season through the British 

 Channel, and supply all Europe, as well as this bird, with their spoil 

 The gannet assiduously attends the shoal in their passage, keeps with 

 them in their whole circuit round our island, and shares with our fish- 

 ermen this exhaustless banquet. As it is strong of wing, it never 

 comes near the land ; but is constant to its prey. Wherever the 

 gannet is seen, it is sure to announce to the fishermen the arrival of 



