52 COMMON GANNET. 



which would lead you to think that they care as little about the present as 

 the future. Now the old birds are freed of part of their cares, they drop 

 such fish as they have obtained by the side of their young, and, like Cormo- 

 rants, Pelicans, or Herons, seldom bring a supply oftener than once a-day. 

 Strange to say, the young birds at this period do not appear to pay the least 

 attention to the old ones, which occasionally alight near them, and drop fish 

 for them to feed upon. 



Gannets do not feed, as some have supposed, and as many have believed, 

 on herring only; for I have found in their stomachs codlings eight inches in 

 length, as well as very large American mackerels, which, by the way, are 

 quite different from those so abundantly met with on the coasts of Europe. 



The young never leave the spot on which they have been reared until 

 they are well able to fly, when they separate from the old birds, and do not 

 rejoin them until at least a year after. Although I have in a few instances 

 found individuals yet patched with dark grey spots, and with most of their 

 primary quills still black, I am confident that it is not until the end of two 

 years that they acquire their full plumage. I have seen some with one wing 

 almost pure black, and the tail of that colour also; others with the tail only 

 black; and several with pure black feathers interspersed among the general 

 white plumage. 



I know of no other bird that has so few formidable enemies as the Gan- 

 net. Not one of the species of Lestris with which I am acquainted ever 

 attempts to molest it; and, although I have seen the Frigate Pelican in quest 

 of food within a short distance of it, 1 never saw it offer injury. The insular 

 rocks on which it breeds are of course inaccessible to quadrupeds. The only 

 animals, so far as I know, that feed on the eggs or young, are the Larus 

 marinus and La?*us glanciis. It is said that the Skua, Lestris Catarractes, 

 sometimes pursues the Gannets, but that species does not exist in North 

 America; and I am inclined to doubt the truth of this statement, for I have 

 never seen a Lestris of any kind attack a bird equal to itself in size and 

 strength. 



Soon after the young Gannets are able to fly, all the birds of the species 

 leave the breeding place, and absent themselves until the following season. 

 While at Newfoundland, I was told that the English and French fishermen 

 who inhabit that country salt young Gannets for winter provision, as is done 

 in Scotland; but I saw none there. In my estimation, the flesh of this bird 

 is so bad that, as long as any other can be procured, it ought to be rejected. 



It is a curious fact, that the Gannets often procure mackerels or herrings 

 four or five weeks before the fishermen fall in with them on our coast; but 

 this is easily explained by their extensive wanderings. Although this bird 

 is easily kept in captivity, it is far from being a pleasant pet. Its ordure is 



