SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



137 



Irish Natural History. — We have received 

 from Mr. R. Welch, of 49, Lonsdale Street, Belfast, 

 the well-known photographer of Irish scenery, a 

 batch of specimens of his excellent views as applied 

 to natural history objects in their native surround- 

 ings One of these we reproduce, being the nesting 

 station of gannets on Little Skellig, off the coast 

 of Co. Kerry. It is a happily-composed picture 



infant plumage lasts about three years, when it is 

 exchanged for that of the adult, which is white, 

 with black tips to the wing feathers and buff- 

 tinted head. 



The evolutions of a flock of gannets, or, as they 

 are often termed, solan geese, while feeding, is 

 one of the most interesting sights of the sea. 

 Perfectly disciplined in their manoeuvres, they 

 frequently hunt in flocks, taking line over a shoal 

 of herrings or other fish. In turn they fall from 

 a considerable height, closing the wings they dive 

 straight into the sea and disappear, leaving only 

 a splash several feet high to mark the place where 

 they entered the water. In a few seconds they 

 reappear with a fish, to be eaten on the surface. 

 The geographical range of the gannet of our seas is 

 practically the North Atlantic. Those ornitho- 

 logists best able to judge report a steady diminu- 



Gannets Nesting on Little Skellig, off Kerry Coast. Ireland. 



showing these birds sitting upon their nests. 

 There are, we believe, very few nesting-places of 

 gannets in Ireland. Probably Skellig and Bull 

 Rock, off the Coast of Cork, are the only localities. 

 A number of other British breeding stations 

 include the celebrated Bass Rock in the Frith of 

 Forth. Also Ailsa Craig, off the Clyde, the far 

 outlying St. Kilda, Suleskerry and the Stack, all 

 off the West of Scotland. The nest is shallow, 

 made upon a pile of seaweed or turfy grass, which 

 material is often carried from long distances. 

 The female lays a single egg. The young are 

 blind on being hatched and quite naked, with 

 slaty blue skins. They, however, soon develop a 

 covering of white down, which is in due course 

 followed by feathers of dark brown tipped with 

 white, giving the birds, during their adolescence, 

 much the appearance of magnified starlings. This 



tion in numbers of these birds at all the known 

 breeding stations. As this species lays only one 

 egg its chances of increase are small, while its 

 enemies increase in numbers, and the means of 

 slaughter by human beings becomes more precise 

 season after season. 



Mr. Welch has also forwarded his Catalogue of 

 Geological Views taken in Ireland. These are 

 accompanied by descriptive notes by Professor 

 Grenville A. J. Cole, of , the Royal College of 

 Sciences, Dublin, many of the subjects having 

 been photographed at his suggestion. Thus the 

 catalogue is more than a mere list of names, and 

 it is divided into sections with geographical and 

 geological headings. Some of Mr. Welch's views 

 are both striking and bold, forming good material 

 to work up as lantern slides for lecture purposes. 

 John T. Carrixgton. 



