own, display this mode of flight to perfection. It is worth 
going far to see a gannet dive. Travelling at a relatively 
considerable height, and eagerly scanning the surface of the 
water for signs of a shoal of fish, this amazing bird dives with 
the speed of lightning, and with half-spread wings disappears 
with a terrific plunge beneath the surface, to emerge, an 
instant later, with his prey. One can measure the force of 
such a plunge by the cruel trick, sometimes played by fisher- 
men, of fastening a herring to a board, and setting it adrift 
where gannets are about. The unsuspecting victim descends 
as usual upon his prey, only to meet instant death by the 
shock of his impact with the board. Those who talk glibly 
of identifying birds by their flight may point to this wonderful 
diver as a case in point. But while one may often see the 
gannet on the wing, it is by no means so often that one will 
have the good fortune to see him dive, for he is not always 
hungry. His white body, pointed tail, and black quill- 
feathers would then enable the novice to name him at once. 
But—in his immature plumage, he would, at a little distance, 
appear black, and unless he were fishing, the chances of 
recognition would be by no means great. Close at hand he 
would appear speckled with white. 
But this by the way. There are two other birds which 
dive from a height on the wing. One of these is the king- 
fisher: the other is the tern. The term “tern ”’ is here used 
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