GANNET 9 



Gannet is endowed with the power of sailing in the midst 

 of the tempest, nor do the billows as they dash with 

 unabated fury against the headlands, stay this bird's 

 powers as it plunges fearlessly through the angry surf. 

 Not only in its great w T ing-power but also in the manner in 

 which it dives, the Gannet differs considerably from the 

 preceding two species. The Cormorant and Shag dive only 

 from the surface of the water, the Gannet, on the other 

 hand, descends suddenly from a considerable height in the 

 air with closed wings and almost incredible speed, piercing 

 the ocean head-foremost in pursuit of fish. 



Food. When fishing, Gannets are generally met with 

 singly, but where food is plentiful the birds collect into 

 companies varying from five to fifty or more in number. 

 They prey exclusively on surface-swimming fish, such as 

 herrings and mackerel, and the impetus of the birds' 

 descent into the water sends the spray high into the air. 

 I have a vivid recollection of the first large flock of Gannets 

 I saw fishing. 1 1 watched the movements of the birds from 

 a steamer. The plunge was so sudden and the splash 

 so great, that I almost failed to recognise the form of each 

 descending bird, and could well have believed that some 

 mighty power was hurling huge boulders into the water 

 from overhead. 



Young Gannets are eaten, or sold as food, by the peasants 

 in some of the remote districts of Scotland. 



Voice. When wandering over the sea, the Gannet is 

 a silent bird, but at its nesting-haunts it is often noisy, 

 and several members of the colony may be heard uttering 

 a note which may be syllabled carra-crac, carra-crac. 



Nest. Gannets are highly gregarious in the breeding- 

 season, selecting for their nesting-sites majestic rocks, dis- 

 tant from land, and several hundreds of feet in height. They 

 usually assemble about March at their breeding-stations, 

 which they tenant until October. In such places they 

 crowd together in countless numbers, and their white forms 

 against the dark rocky islands afford a most impressive 

 spectacle. When a colony is approached, hundreds of birds 

 appear on the wing, some wheeling gracefully about, others 

 taking sharp swooping turns towards the cliffs, as though 

 anxious to see that their homes and families were not being 

 intruded upon. Large numbers of nests are placed on the 

 ledges of cliff-faces, others on elevated platforms and on the 

 tops of stacks. 



1 In Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. 



