PELICANID.E. 565 



their snowy white plumage conspicuous against a 

 dark cloud, or sparkling in the clear blue sky, every 

 now and then one shooting from amongst the rest 

 down to the sea, with almost incredible rapidity, and 

 with force enough to throw the spray as high as the 

 mast of an ordinary fishing-boat ; others just skim- 

 ming over the water, and even then making a sudden 

 dash down, as an unwary fish passes within shot. 

 An ordinary gale of wind does not seem to trouble 

 the Gannets much, as I have seen them on such 

 occasions dash into the white water on Teignmouth 

 or Exmouth Bar, when one would have thought it 

 impossible to see anything below the surface, and 

 they must, moreover, have been in considerable 

 danger of being rolled over by a breaking wave on 

 rising to the surface again. Although the Gannet in 

 his dash down into the sea puts on steam enough to 

 carry him to a considerable depth in the water, for 

 he is often some little time out of sight, I do not 

 believe he ever dives, in the ordinary sense of that 

 word, either when in search of food or to avoid 

 danger, even if wounded : the body appears to me 

 too light and buoj'ant for that. 



At Lundy, where, as I have before said, the Gan- 

 nets have a small breeding station, they keep very 

 much apart from the rest of the birds, in a small 

 portion of the northern end of the island, and their 

 nests appeared to be lower down and nearer the sea 

 than those of the Gulls, Guillemots, &c. This is 



3c 



