490 PELECANID^E. 



SULA. Generic Characters. Bill strong, long, forming an elongated cone very 

 large at its base, compressed towards the point, which is slightly curved ; edges 

 of the mandibles serrated ; the angle of the gape behind the line of the eyes. 

 Face and throat naked. Nostrils basal, linear, hidden. Legs short, strong, 

 placed rather backward ; three toes in front, one behind, articulated to the inner 

 surface of the tarsus, all four toes united by membrane ; claw of the middle toe 

 pectinated. Wings long, first quill-feather the longest. Tail cuneiform. 



THE GANNET is a constant resident on our coast, but 

 with considerable change of locality depending on the sea- 

 son of the year. The breeding stations at which the 

 largest quantities congregate during spring and autumn 

 are, Lundy Island, off the coast of Devon, where one spot 

 is called Gannet Cove, from the numbers which resort 

 there ; the Skelig Isles, off the county of Kerry, west of 

 Ireland , the Isle of Ailsa, at the mouth of the Frith of 

 Clyde ; St. Kilda in the Outer Hebrides ; Souliskerry 

 near the Orkneys ; and, on the east coast, the Bass Rock 

 in the Frith of Forth. These stations are inhabited by 

 many thousands. 



This last-named precipitous rock, Mr. Selby says, " is 

 rented from the proprietor at sixty or seventy pounds per 

 annum, and as the proceeds chiefly depend upon the pro- 

 duce of the Gannets, great care is taken to protect the old 

 birds, which the tenant is enabled to do from the privi- 

 lege possessed by the proprietor, of preventing any person 

 from shooting, or otherwise destroying them within a cer- 

 tain limited distance of the island. From the accounts I 

 have received from the resident there, it appears that the 

 Gannet is a very long-lived bird, as he has recognised, from 

 particular and well-known marks, certain individuals for 

 upwards of forty years, that invariably returned to the 

 same spot to breed. He also confirmed to me the time re- 

 quired for this bird to attain maturity, namely, four years ; 

 and pointed out several in the different garbs they assume 

 during that period, stating also, that until fully matured, 



