THE OAR-FOOTED SEA-FLIERS. 223 



walking amongst them I should have run the risk of falling from the craggy cliffs into the sea. It was 

 a wonderful sight to see the multitudes below fishing for food, which, as soon as they had collected 

 enough, they brought with flagging wings to the top of the rock and laid it before their young ones. 

 Towards the end of August, the nestlings are fully fledged, and at that time if they are not larger they 

 are at least fatter than their parents. In this condition the country people catch as many of them as 

 they can, and salt them for food." 



In St. Kilda every year there is a regular massacre of young Gannets, which, as they are killed, 

 are thrown down from the rocks into the sea, and there collected into boats ; great quantities are then 

 sent to Edinburgh and other places and brought to market. 



THE COMMON GANNET. 



The Common Gannet (Su/a alba) is altogether white, except the primary quills, which are 

 brownish black ; the upper part of the head and hinder part of the neck are tinged with yellow. The 

 plumage of the young is blackish brown upon the upper parts of the body, speckled with white ; the 

 under surface is light brown spotted with a darker shade. The eye is yellow, the beak blueish, the 

 foot green, and the bare skin of the throat black. This species is from thirty to thirty-three inches 

 long, and from seventy-two to seventy-four broad ; the wing measures twenty-one, and the tail ten 

 inches. The female is somewhat smaller than her mate. 



These birds are constant residents on the shores of Great Britain, changing their locality, however, 

 according to the varying seasons of the year. The principal breeding-places are, Lundy Island, the 

 Skellig Isles on the coast of Kerry ; and in Scotland, the Isle of Ailsa, St. Kilda, Souliskerry (Orkney), 

 and the Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth. This latter rock, where Macgillivray made some observations 

 which we will detail, is about a mile in circumference, and of an oblong form, with precipitous cliffs, in 

 some places perpendicular, and in others overhanging, except in one narrow part, where a less abrupt 

 projection forms the only landing-place. 



" The Gannets arrive about the middle of February or the beginning of March, and depart in 

 October ; some years, a few individuals remain during winter. The nests are composed of grass and 

 seaweed, generally placed on the bare rock or earth elevated in the form of a truncated cone, of 

 which the base is about twenty inches in diameter, with a shallow terminal cavity. On the summit 

 of the island are numerous holes in the turf, formed by the Gannets in pulling away grass and 

 turf for their nests ; these are placed in all parts of the rock where a convenient spot occurs, but are 

 much more numerous towards the summit. Some of them, which have been occupied for years on 

 the face of the cliff, or in a shallow fissure, are piled up to the height of from three to five feet ; 

 but in this case they always lean against the rock. The egg, which is solitary and presents nothing 

 remarkable in its position, is of an elongated oval form, white, dull, with a chalky surface, usually sullied 

 or patched with yellowish brown dirt. It is subjected to rough usage, for the bird when alighting, 

 flying off, or disturbed by the intrusion of human visitors, tosses it about, and often stands upon it 

 All the movements of the Gannets on land are very awkward ; it hobbles or waddles when it tries to 

 walk, stares at you with its white goggle eyes, opens its ugly black throat, and emits a torrent of 

 crackling sounds. 



" When sitting, the Gannets allow a person to approach within three feet, sometimes much 

 nearer, so that one may even touch them. When approached, they merely open their bill and utter 

 their usual cry, or rise to their feet and express some degree of resentment, but little apprehension 

 of danger. They take advantage of the absence of their neighbours to pilfer the materials of their 

 nests ; frequently two join in the same act, and occasionally two may be seen at the same bunch, 

 endeavouring to wrest it from each other. They are constantly repairing their nests, which, being 



