THE SHOEES OF BRITAIN. 101 



the act of respiration there appears to be always 

 some air propelled between the skin and the body of 

 this bird, as a visible expansion and contraction is 

 observed about the breast ; and this singular confor- 

 mation makes the bird so buoyant that it floats high 

 on the water, and does not sink beneath the surface, 

 as observed in the cormorant and shag. The legs are 

 not placed so far behind as in such of the feathered 

 tribe as procure their subsistence by immersion ; the 

 Gannet, consequently, has the centre of gi'avity 

 placed more forward ; and, when standing, the body 

 is nearly horizontal, like a goose, and not erect like a 

 cormorant. 



The Gannet collects a slight heap of withered grass 

 and dry sea-weeds, on wliich it lays and hatches its 

 eggs. They perform this duty by turns, one foraging 

 while the otlier sits. Tlic roamer, after a predatory 

 excursion, returns to his partner, with five or six 

 herrings in his gorge ; these she very complacently 

 pulls out one by one, with much address. IMarten 

 says that they frequently rob each other, and thai 

 one which had pillaged a nest, artfully fli;w out 

 towards the sea with the spoil, and retm-ned again, 

 as if it had gathered the stuff from a different quarter. 

 The owner, though at a distance from his nest, had 

 observed the robbery, and waited the return of the 

 thief, whom he attacked with the utmost fury. 

 " This bloody battle," adds the narrator, " was fought 

 above our heads, and proved fatal to the thief, who 

 fell dead so near our boat, that our men took him up, 

 and presently dressed and ate him." 



