266 BEACH GRASS 



given by Mr. J. H. Gumey ^ in his monograph on 

 the gannet. He says : "This sort of thing can be 

 seen with variations, any fine day in July, on the 

 Bass Rock, but it cannot be the affection of court- 

 ship, because the courting season is passed." 

 He ascribes it to the affection of the gannets for 

 each other. 



The bowing and posturing and other strange 

 antics of the Layson albatross is spoken of by 

 Fisher as "a curious dance, or perhaps 

 more appropriately a Cakewalk," and he goes on 

 to say: "This game or whatever one may wish 

 to call it very likely originated in past time dur- 

 ing the courting season, but it certainly has long 

 since lost any such significance. I believe the 

 birds now practise these antics for the pure fun 

 they derive." These remarks I believe apply ex- 

 actly to the dance of the gannets. I spent many 

 hours one summer under most favorable con- 

 ditions near the great gannet nesting ledges on 

 the Cliffs of Bonaventure Island, P. Q., and I 

 saw the dance repeated by hundreds of pairs 

 many times, and I came to the same conclusion 



iThe Gannet, p. 377. 



