222 CASSELLS BOOK OF BIRDS. 



upper and an under portion, so that the beak has the appearance 01 consisting of three parts. The 

 tarsi are diminutive but strong ; the wings unusually long, with the first quill the longest ; the tail 

 consists of twelve feathers, and terminates in a wedge-like point. The face and throat are naked. 



The Gannets inhabit the northern hemisphere, and are met with in all seas from 70 

 north latitude to the tropics ; further southward their absence is supplied by other species. 

 They are abundant in Iceland, and the Faroe Islands, the Orkneys, and the Hebrides ; upon the coast 

 of Norway they are less frequent, but plentiful on the American shores, both of the Pacific and 

 Atlantic. In Great Britain Gannets breed in great numbers on the Bass Rock, Souliskerry, St. Kilda, 

 Ailsa, and Skellig Islands. They betake themselves to the open sea during the winter, pursuing the 

 herrings, pilchards, and other fishes, upon which they dart nearly vertically. It would seem as if these 

 birds entertained a sort of affection for certain islands, or particular localities upon the coast. When 

 they have an opportunity of doing so, they like to pass the night on dry land, generally preferring high 

 precipitous cliffs that rise abruptly from the sea, and from which they can see the waves breaking 

 perpetually before them. Their choice in this particular is somewhat fanciful, at all events they are 

 always to be seen on certain rocks, and seem as constantly to avoid others apparently just as well 

 suited to their purpose. 



The power of flight possessed by these birds is very great ; they appear to swim only while they 

 give themselves a little rest upon the water, and are never seen upon dry land except during the 

 breeding season, or when, as has been said, they come on shore to sleep. When trying to stand upon 

 their feet they are very helpless, and their walk is hardly more than a waddle. Neither is their power 

 of swimming of much avail ; they allow themselves to be blown along by the wind without any 

 exertion of their own, and, indeed, never use their legs except when compelled to do so. When they 

 employ their wings, however, they make up for these deficiencies ; their flight is, perhaps, inferior to 

 that of the Petrels, but it is exceedingly swift and strong. After a few rapid strokes of the wings, 

 apparently to give it the necessary impulse, the Gannet glides through the air like an arrow, wheeling 

 round and turning with the greatest ease, at one time sailing close to the surface of the sea, at another 

 rising high into the air, and guiding its course by the simple sloping of its wings. Its voice consists 

 of a succession of harsh croakings, while that of the young birds is a disagreeable screech. Whoever 

 has visited the localities where these birds breed, will have little difficulty in understanding the beds 

 of guano which of late years have been so profitably turned to account. They congregate upon the 

 islands selected as their nesting-places by hundreds of thousands, and by millions, insomuch that, 

 using the words in their literal sense, the air all around is filled with them ; " their multitudes shut out 

 the light of the sun, and their voices deafen any visitor." Towards the end of April they first make 

 their appearance upon these islands, and leave them again about October. Their nests are placed so 

 close together, that it is difficult for a man to walk between them. Those first built are of tolerably 

 large dimensions, those made at a later period considerably smaller, while those constructed by the 

 last comers must necessarily be placed on any little unoccupied spaces that can be sought out The 

 nest itself consists of a mere heap of land or sea plants, on which the female deposits her single egg. 

 The eggs are of moderate size, with chalky-looking shells that are at first white, but soon become of a 

 dirty yellowish brown. The young birds are not hatched till the beginning of June, and by the end 

 of July are about half grown, but still clad in a yellowish white dress of short down. 



"In the year 1821," says Faber, "I visited one of the little islands upon which these birds had 

 built their nests. As soon as I had landed, both young and old greeted my arrival with a burst of 

 most discordant music, consisting of one harsh shrieking sound. Not one of them, however, stirred 

 from the spot where they sat, so that I might have readily helped myself to as many of them as I chose. 

 The nests lay crowded close together, but the ground was so slippery with all sorts of filth, that in 



