30 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 8-No. 4 



the only enquiry coming from a Loudon 

 dealer who would take the work if it conld 

 be delivered there. We have offered a set 

 of Yarrell's works, 5 vol. for $75 and no 

 buyers. This state of things is as inter- 

 esting to us as a rare find, for fact wipes 

 theory out. We never knew but one set 

 of Yarrell's like this for sale, and $125 was 

 the price asked. 



"Climbing Irons." — I disagree with 

 Ernest Ingersoll, and say use irons, but 

 think on large trees a belt should be used 

 jDassing around the body of the climber 

 and trimk of the tree. I have one made 

 of stout webbing in sections of two feet 

 each, and fastened together with buckles, 

 and as the tree decreases in size, I shorten 

 it by taking out a section. It should 

 pass through loops in the back of the 

 climbing jacket. In all large trees you 

 are liable to strike the irons into thick dead 

 bark that will suddenly give way. Last 

 Sjjring while climbing a large oak to a 

 Ked-shouldered Hawk's nest, seventy five 

 feet to the ground, when fifty or sixty feet 

 from the ground I met with such an acci- 

 dent, and but for my belt would have 

 thereafter lost all interest in Oology. The 

 belt saved my life. — R. Wes 3IcBride, 

 Waterloo, JJe Kalh Co., Indiana. 



The Gannet, Tula hassana, or Solan 

 Goose. — Gaunets are met with in Iceland, 

 the Faroe Isles, on the coast of Norway, 

 and on the Atlantic and Pacific shores of 

 North America. Thev are constant resi- 

 dents in the British Isles, where the prin- 

 cipal breeding places are Lundy Isle, St. 

 Kilda, and the Bass Eock. The last 

 named being the most generally known. It 

 is situated in the Firth of Forth opposite 

 to Canty Bay. Solan Geese, as the Gannets 

 are usually termed, visit the Bass early in the 

 Spring, stay to breed and leave in October. 



The Bass Rock dui'ing the breeding 

 season is certainly a sight to delight the 

 heart of an ornithologist. Many thou- 

 sands of Gannets, Gulls, L. fuscus, L. 

 argentatus, and L. tridactyla, Guillemots, 



U. troile and Puffins, Fratereula arcticay 

 breed ujDon its magnificent cliffs. The 

 Gannets build their nests upon the flat 

 surface of the rock, the Gulls and Guille- 

 mots occupy the ledges, and the Puffins 

 make use of the deepest holes they can 

 find. Before landing upon the Bass Rock 

 leave must be obtained from the keeper. 

 The landing place is at the entrance to the 

 old fort which held out so long for James 

 II. Certain parts of the surface of the 

 rock are abnost completely covered by the 

 nests of the Gannets. The cries of the 

 Gulls and the peciiliar "grog," "grog" of 

 the Solan Geese almost deafen the visitor. 

 The Gannets are very tame and permit 

 strangers to walk among them, and even 

 in some instances to handle them. The 

 Solan Goose lays one large white egg, but 

 it soon becomes a dirty yellow color. The 

 young bird when hatched has a black skin, 

 which soon becomes covered with pure 

 white down. Later it assumes a black 

 plumage, which finally changes to the white 

 of the mature bird. 



Large numbers of the fresh eggs are 

 collected, sent to London and sold as deli- 

 cacies for invalids. Many thousands of 

 the young birds are shot and salted 

 and used as food during the Winter. The 

 old birds are often captured by means of 

 fish nailed on j)ieces of wood, which are 

 then placed in the sea. The Solan Goose 

 seeing the fish on the surface of the water, 

 drops from a great height upon it and 

 breaks its neck by the force of the con- 

 cussion. It is very interesting to watch 

 Gannets fishing. They can perceive a 

 fish from a great distance and drop like a 

 flash upon their prey. The}-^ are very use- 

 ful to fishermen, who learn where the 

 shoals of fish are by seeing them fishing. 

 They are very voracious, and the quantity 

 of fish required for their support must be 

 very great indeed. Gannets attain a good 

 old age. Several have bred on the Bass 

 Rock for over thirty years. — J. T. T. Reed, 

 Ryhope, Durham Co., England. 



