OUR GANNETS-SEA-FOWL OF UNUSUAL INTEREST 



BY DR. R. W. SHUFELDT, C. M, Z. S. 



(PHOTOGRAPHS BY J. H. GURNET, F. Z. S., OF ENGLAND, AND THE AUTHOR) 



T^HOSE foresters who have their homes and guard 

 * our forests along the Atlantic seaboard, from the 

 coasts of Maine, southward, are often good observers 

 of the oceanic species of birds, including such forms 

 as are generally designated as shore birds ; they come 

 to recognize the gulls and the terns, and a big alba- 

 tross when they see one, the man-o'war-bird or frigate 

 pelican, the os- 

 prey, and not 

 a few others. 

 Now, I propose 

 to describe 

 here several 

 other species 

 of large sea 

 fowl, which 

 they are sure 

 to see fre- 

 quently, b u t 

 with which 

 they may not 

 be so familiar, 

 inasmuch a s 

 they do not 

 breed on our 

 coasts, a 1- 

 though f r e- 

 quenting them 

 during their 

 m i g r a tions. 

 These are the 

 Gannets, which 

 are large birds 

 related to the 

 tropic birds, 

 to the Anhin- 

 gas, to the 

 Pelicans, to the 

 C o r m orants, 

 and to the 

 Man - o' - war 

 bird, and we 

 give the name 

 o f Stegano- 

 pods to this 

 group as a 

 whole, which 

 refers to the 



OLD GANNET AND YOUNG ON BASS ROCK 



Note the snowy white plumage of the adult bird, and the beautiful soft white down on the 

 young bird with its jet black bill. The baby Gannet emerges from its egg at the end of 

 June usually blind and bald, with small feet, a large head and a mouth of dark, bluish-grey, 

 but in twenty-four hours it has gained strength enough to stretch its wings. On the eighth 

 day its eyes are open and by the ninth it can squall vigorously. 



fact that they all have fully webbed feet ; hence, too, the 

 vernacular name Totipalmate Swimmers. They are 

 large birds, generally exceeding a couple of feet in 

 length. In appearance and habits' they are greatly at 

 variance, although they do have quite a few characters 

 in common besides the complete webs between the toes. 



All are maritime forms, and all catch and subsist upon 

 fish. Some of them, as the pelicans and cormorants, 

 have a more or less strong hook at the end of the uppe.r 

 bill, and a bag-like appendage beneath the lower one. 

 which latter character is best marked in the pelican. 

 Their tongues are more or less rudimentary, and this is 

 likewise true of their nostrils, which are absent in the 



Gannets. Most 

 of them lay 

 but a single 

 egg, while the 

 Anhingas or 

 Snake birds 

 may lay as 

 many as five, 

 and they nest 

 upon rocky 

 ledges or iso- 

 lated islets, in 

 rude nests on 

 the ground, or 

 in low shrub- 

 like trees or 

 bushes. 



In all i n- 

 stances the 

 young are 

 f e a t h erless 

 when hatched, 

 but soon 

 clothed with 

 soft, white 

 down, With 

 respect to their 

 breeding hab- 

 its, they are 

 all gregarious, 

 nesting in colo- 

 nies, and, inso- 

 far as the Gan- 

 nets are con- 

 cerned, in enor- 

 mous numbers 

 a fact that 

 will be more 

 fully touched 

 ui)on further 

 on in this ar- 

 ticle. The Gannets are all arrayed in one family, the Su- 

 lidae, and that this group contains but one genus, Sula, 

 there being associated in it some six species of Gannets, 

 though only one of these is called the Gannet (Sula 

 bassana). All the rest are known as Boobies as the 

 Booby, the Blue-faced, the Blue-footed, the Red-footed, 



