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flars of heaven when viewed in a ferene niglit ; if frofn afar 

 you fee the diftant flocks cither flying to or from the ifland, 

 you would imagine them to be a vaft fwarm of bees." 



" The gannet," obferves Dr. Latham, " inhabits the 

 colder parts of this kingdom, and more efpecial'.y feveral of 

 the northern ifles, and in particular that of Bafs in Scotland, 

 whence the name. It generally firll makes its appearance 

 in March, and after making a circuit of the ifland, departs 

 in October or November. This race feems to be in purfnit 

 of the herrings and pilchards, whof.; motions it watches ; 

 and the fiihermen know the coming of thefe fifli by the ap- 

 pearance of the birds. That this is the inducement feems 

 probable, as they are likewife feen, in the month of Decem- 

 ber, as far fouth as the coaft of Lifbon and Gibraltar, plun- 

 ging for fardinx. The gannet is alfo common on the coafts 

 of Norway and thofc of Iceland, and now and then met with 

 on the fouthern coafts of Greenland. In America, it is 

 found on the coafts' of Newfoundland where it breeds, mi- 

 grating in winter as far as Carolina : faid alfo to have been 

 met with frequently in the louthern ocean ; but we are not 

 clear whether the fort meant by them is the common gan- 

 net, or the lefler one." 



" The gannet?," ^fr. Pennant remarks, " are birds of 

 paffage. Their firft appearance in thofc iflands being in 

 March, and their continuance till Auguft or September, 

 according as the inhabitants take or leave their firft egg ; 

 but in general the time of breeding and that of their de- 

 parture feems to coincide with the anival of the herring, 

 and the migration of that fifl), which is their principal food, 

 out of thofe feas." — " 1 have in the month of Auguft," 

 he adds in another place, " obferved in Caithnefs their 

 northern migrations. I have feen them pafling the whole 

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

 they fly high, in ftorms they fly low and near the fliore ; but 

 never crofs over land, even when a bay with promontories 

 intervenes, but follow at an equal diftance the courfe of the 

 bay, and regularly double eveiy cape. I have feen many 

 of the parties make a fort of halt for the fake of fifliing ; 

 then darting headlong into the fca, make the water foam 

 and fprins up with the violence of their defcent : after which 

 they purl'ufcd their route. I enquired whether they ever 

 were obferved to return fouth ward in the fpring, hut was 

 aiifwered in the negative ; fo that it appears, they ar.nually 

 encircle the whole ifland." 



They are well known on moft of our coafts by diff"erent 

 names. In Cornwall and in Ireland they are called gunnels, 

 and by the Wellli g<m. It comes on the coafts of Cornwall 

 in the latter end of the fummer or beginning of Autumn, 

 hovering over the flioals of pilchards that come up through 

 the St. George's channel from the north fea. The gannet 

 fcldom comes near the land, but is conftant to its prey ; 

 and when the pilchards retire, which happens about the end 

 of November, they are feen no more. 



The ncft of the gannet is compofed of various mate- 

 rials, fuch as grafs, and water-plants intermixed with 

 any thing the bird finds floating on the water. Each 

 bird, if undifturbed, wor.ld lay only one egg in the year ; 

 bat if that be taken away, they will lay another ; and if 

 (hat be taken away alfo, they will lay a third, but no more. 

 The young gannets, as well as the eggs, are eaten. Martin 

 an"ures u';, that the inhabitants of St. Kilda confume annu- 

 ally no lefs than 22,600 young birds of this fpecies, befides 

 an amazing quantity of their eggs ; thefe being their princi- 

 pal fupport throughout the year : they preferve both eggs 

 and fowls in pyramidal Hone-buildings, covering them with 

 turf aflies to preferve them from moifture. This is a dear- 

 bought food, atxd earned at the hazard of their lives, either 



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by climbing the moft difficult and narrow paths, where to 

 appearance they barely cling, and that too at an amazing 

 height above the raging fea ; or elfe, being lowered down from 

 above, they colledl their annual provifion, thus hanging mid- 

 way in the air, and placing their whole dependence on the 

 uncertain footing of one perfon who holds the rope by which 

 they are fufpended at tlie top of the pn-cip'ce. The young 

 birds are a favourite difli with the North Britons in general • 

 during the feafon they are cmftar.tly brought from the Bafs 

 iflc to Edinburgh, and are roailed and fer.ed up a little be- 

 fore dinner as a whet : the price vliey are fold for in the 

 markets is about twenty-pence a piece. 



The following account of the gannet?< in the iHe of St- 

 Kilda is given by Mr. Macauley. " The rocks are in "fum- 

 mer totally covered with foland geefe and other fowls, and 

 appear at a diftance like fo many mountains covered with 

 fnow. The neftscf the foland goofe, net to mention thofs 

 of other fowls, are fo clofe, th?.t when one walks between 

 them, the hatching fowls on either fide can always take hold 

 of one's clothes ; and they will often fit till they are attacked, 

 rather than expofe their eggs to the danger of being de- 

 ftroyed by the fea-gulls : at the fame time an equal number 

 fly about, and furnifli food for their mates that are employed 

 in hatching ; and there are, befides, large flocks of barren 

 fowls of the different tribes that frequent the rocks of St. 

 Kilda. 



" The foland geefe equal almoft the tame ones in fize. 

 The common amufem.ent of the herring-fifl-iers fliows the 

 great ftrength of this fowl. The fifliers fix a herring upon- 

 a board, which has a fmall weight under it to fink it a little 

 below the furface of the fea : the foland goofe obfernng th- 

 fifti, darts upon it perpendicularly ; and with fo much force^ 

 that he runs his bill irrecoverably through the board, and is 

 taken up direftly by the fifliers. 



" The foland geefe repair to St. Kilda in the month of 

 March, and continue there till after the beginning of No- 

 vember. Ikfore the middle of that month they, and all 

 the other fea-fowls that are fond of this coaft, retire much 

 about the fame time into fome other favourite regions ; fo 

 that not a fingle fowl belonging to their element is to be feen 

 about St. Kilda from the beginning of winter down to the 

 middle of February. Before the young foland geefe fly off, 

 they are larger than their mothers, and the fat on their 

 breaft is fomttimes three inches deep. Into what quar- 

 ter of the world thefe tribes of wild fowl repair, after win- 

 ter ftts in, v.'hether into the northern ocean, the native coun- 

 try and winter-quarters of herrings in general, or into fome 

 other region near the fun, or whether they be of the fleep- 

 ing kind, they who pry into the myfteries of natural hif- 

 tory, or have converfed much with writers of voyages can 

 beft explain. I fliall only pretend to fay that thefe differ- 

 ent nations of the feathered kind are taught to chufe the 

 propcreft habitations and feeding places, and to fliift thtir 

 quarters feafonably by the unerring hand of God. 



" From the account given, above of the multitudes of fea- 

 fowls that feek their food on this coaft, we may juftly con- 

 elude that there muft be inexhauftible ftores of nfli there. 

 Let us for a moment confine our attention to the coiifuinp- 

 tion made by a liugle fpecies of fowls. The foland goole 

 is almoft infatiably voracious ; he flies with great force and 

 velocity, toils all the day with little intermiflion, and dlgtfts 

 his food in a very ftiort time ; he difdains to eat any thing 

 worfe than herring or mackrcl, unlets it be in a very hun- 

 gry place, which he takes care to avoid or abandon. We 

 fliall take it for granted that there are a hundred thoufand 

 of that kind around the rocks of St. Kilda ; and this calcu- 

 lation is by far too moderate, as no lefe than twenty thour 



fand 



