GANNET. 'i^^ 



seas. It IS probable that these birds attend the herring and 

 the pilchard during their whole circuit round the British 

 Islands, the appearance of the first being always esteemed by 

 the fishermen as a sure pressage of the approach of the last. 

 Gannets migrate in quest of food as far south as the mouth 

 of the Tagus, being frequently seen off Lisbon in December, 

 plunging for sardines. 



In the month of August, Dr. Harvey observed in Caithness 

 their northern migrations ; they were passing the whole day 

 in flocks, from five to fifteen in each. In calm weather they 

 fly high ; in storms they proceed lower and near the shore, 

 but never cross over the land, even when a bay with its pro- 

 montories intervenes, but follow at an equal distance the 

 course of the bay, and regularly double every cape. Many of 

 the moving parties would make a sort of halt for the sake of 

 fishing ; for this purpose they soar to a great height, then, dart- 

 ing headlong into the sea, make the water foam and swell with 

 the violence of the concussion, after which they pursue their 

 route. With the arrival of the shoals of pilchards in the latter 

 end of summer, they are seen on the coast of Cornwall, and in 

 November, when the pilchards retire, the Gannets mostly dis- 

 appear, though a few linger on the coast throughout the winter. 

 An individual killed near Mount's Bay made, as is common 

 with this bird, a long struggle with a water-spaniel, assisted by 

 a boatman, showing himself both strong and pugnacious, and 

 sufficiently redeeming on his part the Gannet family from the 

 ill-supported charge of cowardice and stupidity. 



Many years ago a Gannet, flying over Penzance, and seeing 

 some pilchards lying on a fir-plank in a cellar used for curing 

 fish, darted down with such violence that it struck its bill 

 through the board and broke its neck. 



These birds appear to have a strong predilection for particu- 

 lar spots. On the Gannet Rock, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 

 they are seen in amazing multitudes. This rock (according to 

 Audubon, from whom we derive the interesting information) is 

 four hundred feet in height, and several acres in extent on the 

 summit. At that time, the 8th of June, it was covered with 



