368 THE SOLAND GOOSE. 



rity. It differs from the cormorant in size, being larger; and 

 its colour, which is chiefly white ; and by its having no nostrils, 

 but in their place a long furrow that reaches almost to the end 

 of the bill From the corner of the mouth is a narrow slip of 

 black bare skin, that extends to the hind part of the head ; 

 beneath the skin is another that, like the pouch of the pelican, 

 is dilatable, and of size sufficient to contain five or six entire 

 herrings, which in the breeding season it carries at once to its 

 mate or its young. 



These birds, which subsist entirely upon fish, chiefly resort to 

 those uninhabited islands where their food is found in plenty, and 

 men seldom come to disturb them. The islands to the north of 

 Scotland, the Skelig islands off the coasts of Kerry in Ireland, 

 and those that lie in the north sea off Norway, abound with 

 them. But it is on the Bass island, in the Frith of Edinburgh, 

 where they are seen in the greatest abundance. " There is a 

 small island," says the celebrated Hervey, " called the Bass, not 

 more than a mile in circumference. The surface is almost wholly 

 covered during the months of May and June with their nests, 

 their eggs, and young. It is scarcely possible to walk without 

 treading on them : the flocks of birds upon the wing, are so nu- 

 merous, as to darken the air like a cloud ; and their noise is such 

 that one cannot without difficulty be heard by the person next 

 to him. When one looks down upon the sea from the precipice, 

 its whole surface seems covered with infinite numbers of birds 

 of different kinds, swimming and pursuing their prey. If, in 

 sailing round the island, one surveys its hanging cliffs, in every 

 crag, or fissure of the broken rocks, may be seen innumerable 

 birds, of various sorts and sizes, more than the stars of heaven, 

 when viewed in a serene night. If they are viewed at a distance, 

 either receding, or in their approach to the island, they seem 

 like one vast swarm of bees." 



They are not less frequent upon the rocks of St Kilda. 



