COMMON GANNET. 227 
your mind, as they many times have crossed mine on such occasions, 
they are suddenly checked by the action of the bird, which, intent on 
filling its empty stomach, and heedless of your fancies, plunges headlong 
through the air, with the speed of a meteor, and instantaneously snatches 
the fish which its keen sight had discovered from on high. Now per- 
chance you may see the snow-white bird sit buoyantly for a while on 
the bosom of its beloved element. either munching its prey, or swallow- 
ing it at once. Or perhaps, if disappointed in its attempt, you will see 
it rise by continued flappings, shaking its tail sideways the while, and 
snugly covering its broad webbed feet among the under coverts of that 
useful rudder, after which it proceeds in a straight course, until its 
wings being well supplied by the flowing air, it gradually ascends to its 
former height, and commences its search anew. 
In severe windy weather, I have seen the Gannet propelling itself 
against the gale by sweeps of considerable extent, placing its body al- 
most sideways or obliquely, and thus alternately, in the manner of Pe- 
trels and Guillemots; and I have thought that the bird then moved 
with more velocity than at any other time, except when plunging after 
its prey. Persons who have seen it while engaged in procuring food, 
must, like myself, have been surprised when they have read in books 
that Gannets “ are never known to dive,” and yet are assured that they 
“have been taken by a fish fastened to a board sunk to the depth of 
two fathoms, in which case the neck has either been found dislocated, 
or the bill firmly fixed in the wood.” With such statements before him, 
one might think that his own vision had been defective, had he not 
been careful to note down at once the result of his observations. And 
as this is a matter of habit with me, I will offer you mine, good Reader, 
not caring one jot for what has been said to you before on the subject. 
I have seen the Gannet plunge, and afterwards remain under the 
surface of the water for at least one minute at atime. On one occasion 
of this kind. I shot one just as it emerged, and which held a fish firmly 
in its bill, and had two others half-way down its throat. This has in- 
duced me to believe that it sometimes follows its prey in the water, 
and seizes several fishes in succession. At other times I have observed 
the Gannet plunge amidst a shoal of launces so as scarcely to enter the 
water, and afterwards follow them, swimming, or as it were running, 
on the water, with its wings extended upwards, and striking to the 
right and left until it was satiated. While on the Gulf of Mexico, I 
