200 CHAPTERS ON THE NATURAL HISTORY 



of muffs and tippets. This Gannet builds a shallow nest of sea- 

 weed, placed upon the ground, and in it lays its single white egg, 

 that is not unlike the egg of some of the Cormorants, having the 

 same chalky covering overlaying the shell. Fishes that go in 

 great shoals near the surface are followed by these birds, and 

 through this circumstance fishermen often detect the presence of 

 the former, at considerable distances. Gannets are but indiffer- 

 ent swimmers and divers, while, on the other hand, their " prey 

 is almost invariably captured by plunging upon it from a height. 

 and a company of Gannets fishing presents a curious and inter- 

 esting spectacle. Flying in single file, each bird, when it comes 

 over the shoal, closes its wings and dashes perpendicularly, and 

 with a velocity that must be seen to be appreciated, into the 

 waves, whence it emerges after a few seconds, and, shaking the 

 water from its feathers, mounts in a wide curve, orderly taking 

 its place in the rear of the string, to repeat its headlong plunge 

 so soon as it again finds itself above its prey." (Newton.) 



These birds are not used for food, but are simply captured for 

 their feathers alone. This is sometimes effected by tying a her- 

 ring on a shingle and towing it behind a row-boat. The Gannet 

 plunges down upon the bait, and it either kills itself by the shock 

 of the blow received, or else thrusts its beak clean through the 

 floating shingle, and is thus easily taken by being draw r n up to 

 the boat by the tow-string. At many of their former places of 

 resort the Gannets are rapidly decreasing in numbers, where for- 

 merly they w r ere present in immense legions. While in Florida 

 and on the Bahama Banks, I frequently collected specimens of 

 the blue-faced gannet, or " Booby," as it is otherwise known 

 (tfitla ci/anops), and have also had in my possession living speci- 

 mens of the Blue-footed booby and Brewster's booby (8. yossi and 

 &. In-ctrstcri ) . They w^ere taken for me on the coasts of Lower 

 California, and gave me the opportunity of thoroughly working 

 out their osteology. 



Even a more interesting form than any of the gannets is the 

 species of Snake bird we have in this country, occurring, as il 

 does, in the inland waters of the southern States, especially those 

 of Florida. Specimens, however, have been taken as far north 

 as the Carolinas, the mouth of the Ohio River, and southern 

 Kansas. 



Approaching in some respects some of the smaller species of 

 cormorants, this bird is nevertheless easily distinguished from 



