

174 



TOTIPALM.VTE SWIMMERS — STEGANoroDES. 



the eoiiimon Funis dif/itutus iind otht'r fuooids. Tli^iy' aro built in the form of a fliit- 

 tened coiu". with a base twenty iucheH in dianu'ter, and with a shaHow terminal 

 canty. The birds are said to exhibit great industry in colh'cting the materials, tciii- 

 ing up grass and turf with their powerful bills, and in the jtroeess engaging in lie 

 qiient conflicts. The (Jannet lays but a single egg; and if this be removed it is 

 rephiced l)y another. It is described as Iwing elliptical in form, with a rough, dull- 

 white surface — originally white, but almost always more or less patched and staim i| 

 with a yellowish brown. 



It is said that the albumen of this egg diM's not iM'come Avhite when it is boiled, 

 but remains clear and colorless. The egg is subject to rough usage; for the bird, in 

 alighting, or when disturbed by human visitors, tosses it about or stands upon il. 

 This habit has given rise tt) the assertion that the egg is hatched by the bird's 

 feet. At the time of Macgillivray's visit the (iannets would allow a person to 

 approach within three feet, and sometimes so near that they covdd Ix' touched. Winn 

 any one approached they merely opened their bills and uttered their usual cry, or rose 

 to their feet, expressing some degree of resentment, but none of alarm. Dr. Cnn- 

 ningliam, liowever, had a very different experience when he visited the island. 'I'iic 

 old birds manifested every symptom of disjjleasure. Kven a young one, only a few 

 weeks old, scpieaked angrily, and made impotent demonstrations of selfnlefence witli 

 its soft bill. 



Professor Jones, in a note to the St. John's "Natural History and Sport," in 

 Moray, mentions an instance wherein a man, who had ventured to meddle witii a 

 y<»ung Uannet in the downy state, was attacked by the infuriated parent, who ma(l(t 

 a swoop at his face, and caught him violently by the nose. This bird is capable of 

 inflicting a very severe bite with the razor-like edges of its mandibles. 



In descending from the cliffs into the water, the (iannet usually utters a single 

 plaintive cry, performs a curve, shakes its tail or the whole plumag«>, and draws tlif 

 feet backward. When it flies, the body, tail, neck, and bill are nearly in a straiglit 

 line ; the wings are extended, and never brought close to the IkkIv, and it moves i)y 

 regular flajtpings, alternating with regular sailings. In alighting, it ascends in a loni.: 

 curve, keeps the feet spread, and tjomes down rather heavily. It has consideniiili' 

 difticulty, when on low ground, in taking wing; and when found iidand, in places 

 unfavorable for flight, is occasionally taken alive. 



The great power of dilatation jxtssessed by its (csophagJis enables this bird to 

 swallow fish of very considerable dimensions. Its food consists of fish of various 

 kinds — chiefly herring. Its power of «ligestion is very great. It is very greedy, 

 and occasionally Ijccomes so gorged with food as to Ik* unable to ri.se from the surface 

 of tla* wat«'r, and may then be I'asily captured. 



The old bird feeds her oft'siiring with ]iartially •iigested fish, which is ]>reparcd in 

 her stomach, and introduced little i»y little into the throat of the young liird; iiml 

 when the latter is well advanced in growth, it inserts its own bill witliin the parent '^ 

 mouth, and receives the fragnuMits the latter disgorges. The cry of the young bii'l 

 is a shrill squeak, while tiiat of the old bird is hoar.se, and n'senddes the words /ciiw". 

 ttim'i, repeated rapidly. 



Dr. Cunningham states that from one to two thousand of the young birds of tlils 

 siM-t-ies are annually killed for sale; although they are not now held in such liiijii 

 value as formerly, when they figured at the tiibles of even the Sj'ottish moiiarciis. 

 Their consumption is now confined to the lower classes. 



AiLsa Craig, an island composed of columnar traj), of a conical form, and eleven 

 hundred feet in height, in the Firth of Clyde, is an im]Kirtant breeding-place of tli' 



