174 BRITISH BIRDS, WITH THEIR NESTS AND EGGS. 
On land, the Gannet moves awkwardly; but in the air, it is a bird of powerful, 
and graceful flight, during which the bill, body, and tail form a straight line, with 
the legs stretched out behind. Few sights can be more impressive than a flock of 
these great birds, in single file, sailing high above the sea, with their outstretched 
wings moving by regularly alternating flappings and sailings, eagerly on the 
outlook for the approach, to the surface, of a shoal of herring or pilchard, 
which form their particular food. One may then watch what Mr. Seebohm has 
described, and Mrs. Hugh Blackburn has so graphically depicted with her 
pencil, in her ‘Birds of Moidart,” “first one, and then another, dropping with 
a loud splash into the sea, as if hurled downwards with great force, disappearing 
for a few moments, and then rising to the surface. They may be continually 
seen falling from the air like large white stones, or rising from the waves to 
join the soaring flock above.” 
The Gannet’s habit of diving, from a height, for fishes seen on the surface, has 
been taken advantage of to capture the bird. Gannets are caught in the herring 
loches, ‘‘ with a board set on purpose to float above water; upon it a herring is 
fixed, which the goose perceiving, flies up to a competent height until he finds . 
himself making a straight line above the fish, and then bending his course per- 
pendicularly, piercing the air as an arrow from a bow, hits the board, into which 
he runs his bill with all his force irrecoverably, where he is unfortunately taken.” 
The Gannet feeds exclusively on fish, which it takes from little below the 
surface, never diving to any great depth as does the Cormorant. It is exceedingly 
voracious, and often so gorges itself that it is unable to rise from the sea. 
The air cells beneath the skin in the Gannet, as in the Pelican, are widely 
distributed. On blowing into the upper .part of the windpipe by means of properly 
inserted tube, the skin over the sides and lower part of the body will become 
completely inflated, showing that they have ‘‘a free communication with the chest ;”’ 
and. no doubt assist the flight of the bird by decreasing its specific gravity. 
Professor Owen showed, moreover, that ‘‘numerous strips of muscular fibres which 
pass from various parts of the surface of the body, and are firmly attached to the 
skin, appear to produce instantaneous expulsion of the air—at the will of the 
bird—from these external cells, and by thus increasing its specific gravity, enable 
it to descend with the rapidity necessary to the capture of a living prey, while” 
swimming near the surface of the water.” 
According to Macgillivray, Gannets, in alighting, generally sweep up from 
below, in a long curve, ‘‘ keeping their feet spread, and come down rather heavily, 
often finding it difficult to balance themselves, and sometimes when the place is 
very steep, or when another bird attacks them, flying off to try it a second time.” 
