410 THE KEEPER'S BOOK 



When swimming, they leave only the head exposed, 

 offering a very difficult shot. Shags nest only in the 

 cliffs, I think, but cormorants also choose sites in trees 

 or on the ground, especially on lonely islands where 

 they are free from interference. A first cousin to them, 

 but as different, when seen on the wing, as a bird of 

 paradise from a turkey, is the beautiful gannet, or solan 

 goose, a great white bird, with black bars across its 

 wings. The gannet fishes in a manner peculiarly its 

 own. Soaring a couple of hundred feet above the sea, 

 it keeps a sharp look-out for fish, and I have watched 

 it through binoculars and seen the bill turn from one 

 side to the other as the eyes ranged over the preserves 

 far below. Then, catching sight of a gleam of silver, 

 it suddenly folds its wings and drops, literally like a 

 bolt from the blue, doubtless stunning numbers offish 

 with the impact, and then swallowing them at leisure. 

 The bird is spared the discomfort which such high 

 diving might otherwise cause it, by the structure of its 

 nostrils, which are covered up by the skin, so that it 

 breathes only through its mouth. 



The other birds with which the observant sea-fisher- 

 man grows familiar are of smaller calibre puffins, guille- 

 mots, razorbills, and shearwaters and, if not molested, 

 these soon grow so friendly that they paddle round his 

 boat and dive for such small fish or scraps as he may 

 from time to time throw to them. Detailed descrip- 

 tion of these small fowl, which are black above and 

 white beneath, may be found in any natural history 



