ALONG ROCK-BOUND COASTS. 227 



soiled and dirty. Those of the Cormorant are 

 the largest on an average. Both birds often 

 begin to sit as soon as the first egg is laid. It 

 is probable that both these birds pair for life, and 

 year by year frequent certain favoured spots, 

 using the old nest annually. The Shag may 

 always be distinguished from the Cormorant by 

 its smaller size, absence of white in the plumage, 

 and generally browner appearance. It is further 

 characterised by having only twelve feathers in 

 the tail, the Cormorant possessing fourteen. In 

 the nuptial season a frontal crest of curly feathers 

 is assumed by the Shag, but these drop off soon 

 after the eggs are laid ; at the same period the 

 Cormorant assumes white plumes on the thighs, 

 and white filaments on the head and neck, the 

 latter abrading away by the time the eggs are 

 laid, and the former during the course of the 

 summer. 



With a short notice of the GANNET (Sula Scotland: 

 bassana), we will bring this ramble to a close. ISSmd, 

 With the exception of the breeding season this Afi s s s a Rock ' 

 fine bird rarely comes near the land, and then England 1 ; 

 only to one or two chosen localities. A visit ^s"^nd;* and 

 to the breeding-place of the Gannet is a red-letter BuifSUk, 

 day in the experience of the lover of birds. L?tde Rock ' 

 Take the Bass for example. Here the Gannets 81 " 

 begin breeding early in May. The nests are 

 built everywhere among the selected cliffs, on 

 every ledge and projection big enough to hold 

 the bulky structures. Many nests are made 

 amongst the fragments of rock at the top of the 

 cliffs, others lower down in much less accessible 



* A small branch of this colony is established on an islet 

 off the coast of Pembroke. 



