THE GANNET. 259 



Sinkers and fish, to the top, where such as were not drowned, made a 

 sad struggle to escape. There were four nets in this train ; but the 

 aboA'e uinety-four were in one of the nets, and there were thirty-four 

 additional birds in the other part of the train, being one hundred and 

 twenty-eight gannets in all." It is added, that " there are found also in 

 the nets, what are here called holland hawks,* and burrians ;f — a hol- 

 land hawk weighs 14 lbs. — the bird called burriau weighs 7 or 8 lbs., 

 and is speckled on the back like a starling, belly and breast pui'e white. 

 Some others of the Ailsa birds are also got in the nets at all depths ; — 

 one is about the size of a pigeon, t moves in the water with extended 

 wings, always pushing his way forward, and thus gets di'owned. 

 Herrings are occasionally taken in the wide cod-net, and also mackerel." 

 Were these facts not amply attested, I would be incredidous about the 

 depths which the gaiuiet sounds ; but the information furnished in 

 writing, the truth of which, it is stated, may be implicitly relied on, 

 is precisely what was related to my friends, and the singularity of which 

 prompted my inquiry. The vicinity of Ailsa Craig, the great breeding- 

 haunt of the gannet in this quarter, must be recollected, in connection 

 with what is here related. 



They have repeatedly been captured since in the same manner. 

 At the end of March 1840, an eye-witness mentioned to me that 

 he saw a number of gannets taken from the herring-nets there. 

 On the subject of the gannet^s fishing, the following notes have 

 been contributed. Some of these birds came daily under the 

 observation of a scientific friend, who spent some time late in 

 the summer of 1833 at Cushendall, on the coast of Antrim. He 

 remarked that when in pursuit of prey they invariably went down 

 perpendicularly, remained a long time under water, and never re- 

 aj)peared without a fish crosswise in their biUs, which was thrown 

 up into the air, caught by the head in its descent, and swallowed. 

 This done, they flew away close above the surface of the water to 



* Great Northern Diver. Colymbus glaciaUs, Liun. " Ailan-hawk " is applied 

 to divers {flolymli) generally, in Belfast Bay. 



t Red-throated Diver. Cohjmlus septenirionalis, Liun. 



:j: Puffin {Mormon fmtercula, Temin.), probably, judging from the size. The 

 description of the manner of moving tinder water, would, perhaps, apply generally to 

 diving birds. 



s 2 



