THE SOLAN GOOSE. 193 



* * * " Lo ! gannets huge, 



And ospreys plunging from their cloudy height 



With leaden fall precipitate, the waves 



Cleave with dashing breast, and labouring rise, 



Talons and beak o'erloaded ! "* 



Most people who have been at sea, or lived near the sea-coast, are 

 familiar with the habits of the gannet, and its dextrous performances 

 upon surface-fish. 



A cruel method of taking these birds is commonly resorted to by 

 the sea-fishers of the north : it is by fixing 1 a fresh herring" to a piece 

 of board, which has a small weight underneath, to sink it a little 

 below the surface of the sea. The gannet, unconscious of the trap, 

 pounces upon the plank, and, striking at the fish with its usual force, 

 either thrusts its bill completely through the board, or breaks its neck 

 or breast-bone ; thus falling an easy victim to the fishers, f who dress 

 it for table in the same manner as an ordinary goose ; and when on 

 long voyages, and short of fresh meat, an old gannet is eaten by 

 sailors with very much relish. Young ones used to be sold in Edin- 

 burgh and other north-country towns at one shilling and eightpence 

 each, and were esteemed a favourite dish when roasted and served 

 up as wild-goose. Old gannets partake too much of the flavour of 

 fish, to be palatable to the modern gourmand. 



There is no doubt but that, during the ages of archery, these birds 

 afforded the ancient toxophilite excellent sport ; and it appears, arrows 

 of a peculiar form were used specially for shooting wild-geese, and 

 other large fowl. I 



See also, post, " Fowling in St. Kilda," as to capturing- solan geese 

 in that island. 



* Gisborne's Walks in a Forest. 



t Macaulay's History of St. Kilda. 



J " For geese or other large birds they (the arrows) should be double-forked, 

 sharp, and strong, to cut a wing or a neck clean off. The blow from a common shaft 

 rarely inflicts a wound sufficient to bring down the game at once ; notwithstanding 

 she be hurt or shot through, she will fly off and die in another place." La Maison 

 Eustique, Liebault : A.D. 1620. 



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