228 THE BIRDS OF OUR RAMBLES. 



haunts. These nests are cone-shaped and flat, 

 made of seaweed, turf, straw, and moss, and 

 lined with grass. They are built so close together 

 in many places that the sitting birds jostle each 

 other, and fights between the overcrowded 

 Gannets are constantly taking place. The single 

 egg of the Gannet is bluish green when first 

 laid, but soon loses all trace of its original colour 

 from contact with the wet feet of the sitting bird 

 and the dirty nest. The scene is pretty and 

 exciting in the extreme. Clouds of white Gannets 

 are soaring and fluttering in all directions before 

 the cliffs, the sea below is white with more ; and 

 all the time one incessant din of noisy cries 

 rings like a babel in the air. These notes re- 

 semble the syllables carra-carra. Birds, birds, 

 birds are everywhere : some carrying materials 

 for their nests ; some disgorging fish by the side 

 of their sitting mates ; some fast asleep on the 

 grassy downs at the edge of the cliffs ; some 

 fighting, toppling over the cliffs locked together 

 by their bills ; some sitting quietly on their egg ; 

 some rising up to leave their nest with the 

 greatest reluctance as we approach all interesting 

 to the observer, even after repeated visits to the 

 colony. The Gannet feeds exclusively on fish, 

 which the bird secures by plunging down upon 

 them from on high. This bird never dives ; all 

 the fish it catches are near the surface, and they 

 are always seized in the long, sharp, powerful 

 beak. A flock of Gannets fishing in some quiet 

 bay is one of the prettiest sights a rock-bound 

 shore can show. The Gannet is about the size 

 of a small Goose, nearly uniform white in colour,. 



