BIRDS. 307 



bring forward another example of its perfection in the Gannet 

 or Solan Goose (Sula lassana, Fig. 245), of our own shores. 



Fig. 245. GANNET. 



This hircl is very abundant in Norway and in the Hebrides: 

 and, farther south, the Craig of Ailsa, the island of St. Kilda, 

 and the Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth, are favourite 

 breeding-places. So great are their numbers, that the inhabi- 

 tants of St. Kilda, according to Martin, consume annually 

 22,000 young birds of this species as food, besides an immense 

 quantity of the eggs.* In more remote localities, the birds 

 are not less numerous. 



The Gannet, when searching for food, flies a short way 

 above the surface of the water, and, on seeing a fish, rises into 

 the air, and descends with such rapidity and force as to secure 

 its prey. Some idea of the power of its descent may be formed 

 from a circumstance related by Pennant. One of these birds, 

 flying over Penzance, saw some pilchards spread out upon a 

 fir plank about an inch and a half thick, and which was used 



* Buchanan, in his View of the Fishery of Great Britain, conjectures 

 that the Gannets of St. Kilda destroy, annually, one hundred and five 

 millions of herrings. In Sir Walter Scott's " Antiquary," this bird is 

 mentioned as " the relishing Solan Goose, whose smell is so powerful that 

 he is never cooked within doors." The figure of this bird (Fig. 245), and 

 that of the Diver (7%. 281), are copied from Yarrell. 



