bronze-coloured plumage. In the breeding season his head 

 has a hoary appearance, due to the presence of numerous 

 filamentous feathers, known as " filoplumes " ; while the 

 throat is white, and there is a large white patch on the thigh. 

 He has a habit, after a fuU meal, of sitting on some con- 

 venient perch with wings spread wide open and open- 

 mouthed, apparently as an aid to digestion. But he is by 

 no means so wedded to the sea as the shag. Rivers and 

 inland waters will serve him as well as the sea. 



The gannet, though very nearly related to the cormorant, 

 is a bird of very different habits and appearance. When 

 adult it is snow-white in plumage, with blue beak and feet, 

 and can be mistaken for no other bird. Tts peculiar mode of 

 fishing was described in Chapter II. 



Finally, there are two most interesting features bf these 

 birds which are worth remembering. To wit, the toes are 

 all enclosed within one web, and they have no nostrils, and 

 but the merest apology for a tongue. 



And now we come to the petrels. These are for the most 

 part nocturnal birds, spending the day in burrows. They 

 would, therefore, find no place in these pages but for the fact 

 that one may occasionally be seen at sea when one is fishing 

 off the shore in a boat. The commonest is that known as the 

 Manx shearwater. Rather larger than a pigeon, it may 

 be distinguished by its flight, which is rapid; the wings 



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