SS BIRD-LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY. 



black forms as they hurry along just above the 

 surface in strings to the fishing grounds, or the 

 roosting places amongst the rock fissures. Less 

 frequently, the Gannet may be watched fishing off 

 the mouths of these wide southern rivers, but 

 never penetrates up them from the sea, confining 

 its visits to the large rocky bays and fiords that 

 indent the coast. It is said that the Gannet 

 formerly bred on the south coast of Devon, but 

 this to us seems a more than doubtful assertion ; 

 as we need scarcely point out, the only nesting 

 place in the county is on Lundy Island. Neither 

 is it probable that birds from this centre 

 wander round the Cornish coasts to the bays of 

 South Devon, although in the non-breeding season 

 the bird is by no means an unfamiliar one (conf. 

 p. 256). The aversion of this species to cross 

 even narrow strips of land is well known, so that 

 we may safely infer that it reaches the southern 

 coasts by a sea route only. 



It is only to be expected that such pelagic 

 birds as Petrels and Shearwaters rarely enter our 

 estuaries they require plenty of sea room, and it 

 is stress of weather alone that drives them up the 

 wide river mouths off the open sea. Nevertheless, 



