182 



iris yellow ; legs greenish ; webs brown. Total length about 30 inches, culmen 4"8, wing 18"8, tail 8 - 3, 

 tarsus 2 - 7. 



Adult Female (Bass Rock). Upper parts sooty blackish-brown, closely spotted with white, the spots on the 

 rump larger, and the coverts next to the tail nearly all white ; quills and tail blackish brown ; head and 

 neck like the back ; underparts below the neck white, closely marked with sooty brown spots ; bill dark 

 horn-brown. 



Young in down (Bass Rock). Covered with close down like short Swan's down, except on the face, which is 

 blackish. 



Obs. This bird is said to take three years to attain its full plumage. I am indebted to Mr. Small, of 

 Edinburgh, for a series of five specimens showing the different stages through which it passes. The 

 first is the young bird in down ; the second the young above described ; the third resembles no. 2, but 

 has fewer white spots on the upper parts, the face and upper throat are nearly white, and the bill is 

 paler ; no. 4 resembles the adult, except that on the back there are patches of blackish brown, and the 

 tail is blackish brown ; and no. 5 is the adult bird above described. 



This, the only species of the genus Sula which is found in Europe, is an inhabitant of Northern 

 Europe and North America, ranging south, though only as a straggler, as far even as the coasts 

 of Africa. With us in Great Britain it is tolerably common on many parts of our coasts, and 

 breeds in several localities, notably on the Bass Rock, Ailsa Craig, and St. Kilda. In the south 

 of England it occurs not merely as a straggler, but as a regular autumn and winter visitant, and 

 it is said to be tolerably numerous on the South Devonshire coasts. Mr. Cecil Smith says that 

 it remains all the winter off the Channel Islands, but never breeds there, as it does on Luudy 

 Island, off the North-Devon coast. The breeding-stations in Great Britain which are at present 

 tenanted are as follows : — Lundy Island, off the coast of Devon ; the Skellig Islands, on the coast 

 of Kerry; St. Kilda; the Stack of Suliskerry; Ailsa Craig, at the mouth of the Firth of Clyde; 

 and the Bass Rock, in the Firth of Forth. 



In the Humber district it is found off the coast, and stragglers are occasionally driven far 

 inland. Sometimes large numbers are to be seen off Flamborough Head and elsewhere along 

 the coast in the autumn. Mr. Robert Gray says (B. of W. of Scotl. p. 458) that it is an abundant 

 species over the whole coast-line of the west of Scotland during the summer months. Tbey 

 usually make their appearance on the Ayrshire coast in February, and leave in October ; but on 

 the east coast some hundreds have been known to remain all the winter in the vicinity of the 

 Bass Rock for three or four years in succession. It is said to winter even off the Orkneys and 

 Shetland ; and Dr. Saxby writes (B. of Shetl. p. 322) : — " It is often said that the Gannet 

 habitually breeds in the Shetlands ; but I very much question the accuracy of the assertion, 

 even though I have repeatedly seen the birds in the breeding-season upon the North Stack, 

 upon which rock, as also upon the Outstack, they are thought by many fishermen to nest." 



In Ireland it may be seen on most parts of the coast in summer and autumn ; and Thompson 

 asserts that it breeds on one of the Skellig Islands. 



The Gannet is occasionally, though rarely, found in Greenland, and only as an accidental 

 straggler; but Professor Newton says that it is very abundant in many localities in Iceland, and 



