174 British Birds, with their Nests and Eggs. 



On laud, the Gannet moves awkwardlj- ; but in the air, it is a bird of powerful, 

 and graceful flight, during which the bill, bodj^ and tail form a straight line, with 

 the legs stretched out behind. Few sights can be more impressive than a flock of 

 these great birds, in single file, sailing high above the sea, with their outstretched 

 wings moving by regularl}- alternating flappings and sailings, eagerl}^ on the 

 outlook for the approach, to the surface, of a shoal of herring or pilchard, 

 which form their particular food. One ma}- then watch what Mr. Seebohm has 

 described, and Mrs. Hugh Blackburn has so graphically depicted with her 

 pencil, in her "Birds of Moidart," "first one, and then another, dropping with 

 a loud splash into the sea, as if hurled downwards with great force, disappearing 

 for a few moments, and then rising to the surface. The}' ma}^ be continually 

 seen falling from the air like large white stones, or rising from the waves to 

 join the soaring flock above." 



The Ganuet's habit of diving, from a height, for fishes seen on the surface, has 

 been taken advantage of to captiire the bird. Gannets are caught in the herring 

 loches, "with a board set on purpose to float above water; upon it a herring is 

 fixed, which the goose perceiving, flies up to a competent height until he finds 

 himself making a straight line above the fish, and then bending his course per- 

 pendicularl}', piercing the air as an arrow from a bow, hits the board, into which 

 he runs his bill with all his force irrecoverably, where he is unfortunately taken." 



The Gannet feeds exclusively on fish, which it takes from little below the 

 surface, never diving to any great depth as does the Cormorant. It is exceedingly 

 voracious, and often so gorges itself that it is unable to rise from the sea. 



The air cells beneath the skin in the Gannet, as in the Pelican, are widely 

 distributed. On blowing into the tipper part of the windpipe by means of properly 

 inserted tube, the skin over the sides and lower part of the body will become 

 completely inflated, showing that they have "a free communication with the chest;" 

 and no doubt assist the flight of the bird by decreasing its specific gravit}-. 

 Professor Owen showed, moreover, that " numerous strips of muscular fibres which 

 pass from various parts of the svirface of the body, and are firmly attached to the 

 skin, appear to produce instantaneous expulsion of the air — at the will of the 

 bird — from these external cells, and b}- thus increasing its specific gravity, enable 

 it to descend with the rapidity necessary to the capture of a living prej-, while 

 swimming near the surface of the water." 



According to Macgillivray, Gannets, in alighting, generall}- sweep up from 

 below, in a long curve, " keeping their feet spread, and come down rather heavil}-, 

 often finding it diflicult to balance themselves, and sometimes when the place is 

 ver>' steep, or when another bird attacks them, flying off" to try it a second time." 



