98 



COMMON GANNET— SOLON GOOSE. 



lieve that in their mode of life they differ in no respect from the 

 species with which we are best acquainted. These remarkable 

 birds are widely distributed over the warmer portions of the globe, 

 and are met with principally in Asia, Africa, and South Europe. 

 According to accounts of both ancient and modern writers, they 

 make their appearance every year in great numbers in the vicinity 

 of the lakes of Sardinia and Sicily, as also in A.lbufera de Valen- 

 cia and other parts of Spain. Along the coasts of Egypt, Tripoli, 

 Tunis, Algiers, and Morocco, they are abundant, as also in 

 Smyrna, and near the banks of the Volga, but are very rarely 

 met with in Greece. Occasionally a few stragglers have been 

 seen as far north as the banks of the Rhine. Generally speaking, 

 however, the south coast of Europe must be regarded as their 

 northern limit, and North Africa and Central Asia as their usual 

 habitat. Those species that inhabit the Western Hemisphere are 

 likewise confined within corresponding limits. Lakes of salt or 

 brackish water in the vicinity of sea-coasts are the favorite resorts 

 of the Flamingoes. To lakes of fresh water they are only casual 

 visitants, and never resort to them for any length of time. On the 

 other hand, they are always very abundant on the sea-coast, more 

 especially where the shores are flat and swampy. Only those who 

 have had the good fortune to see these birds assembled in flocks, 

 consisting of many thousands, can form an adequate idea of the 

 beauty of their appearance." 



"Looking from Cagliari to the sea," says Cetti, " it seemed to 

 be banked in with a wall of red bricks, or to be covered with 

 countless numbers of roses. On nearer approach these proved to 

 be Flamingoes ranged in regular ranks. Aurora herself was 

 never adorned with more roseate tints than the wings of these 

 birds. The}' seemed literally to glow with pink and carmine. 

 The name of the Flamingo, both in Greek and Latin, was derived 

 from the magnificent hues of their glorious wings, and the French, 

 in the epithet jlammanl, only repeat the same idea. The first im- 

 pression produced by such a spectacle is not easily to be forgotten. 

 The birds stood in ranks, not merely of thousands, but literally of 

 hundreds of thousands, ranged in interminable array. As the 

 sunlight played upon the dazzling white and glowing red, the ef- 

 fect was indescribable. At length, taking alarm at something, the 

 whole body of them rose into the air, displaying their wings to 

 still greater advantage as they formed themselves into an immense 

 wedge-shaped phalanx, and winged their way far up into the blue 

 sky." 



When standing quietly upon the shore the appearance of these 

 birds very much resembles that of an army drawn up in order of 

 battle. The Cingalese call them " English soldier birds," the South 

 Americans simply " soldiers," and, indeed, not without cause, for, 

 as Humboldt informs us, the inhabitants of Angostura, soon after 

 the establishment of that colony, were one day thrown into a state 

 of great alarm by the sudden appearance of what they took to be 

 a numerous army, and it was only when the supposed enemy took 

 flight to the shores of the Orinoco, that they discovered their mis- 

 take. A solitary Flamingo is very rarely seen, never perhaps be- 

 fore the commencement of the pairing season, and even then it must 

 be some young bird that has strayed by accident from its fellows. 

 Usually they keep together in flocks, and carefully avoid any local- 

 ity where danger might be apprehended. Open waters are usually 

 selected as their fishing place, and should a boat approach they at 

 once take flight whilst it is still far off, so that it is by no means easy 

 to observe their proceedings, except with the aid of a telescope. In 

 general they may be seen with their legs immersed in the water, or 

 more rarely on the dry shore of our sand-banks, with their necks 

 curved in a very peculiar manner (see plate) in front of the breast, 

 the head being laid as it were upon the back, or buried beneath the 

 shoulder-feathers of the wing ; generally the whole weight of the 

 body is supported by one leg, the other being held obliquely back- 

 ward or drawn up close to the body ; in this strange position the Fla- 

 mingo sleeps. The manner in which these birds obtain their food is 

 equally remarkable. Like all other sieve-beaked birds, the ma- 



terials upon which they subsist are procured by raking in the mud. 

 The Flamingo, when in search of food, wades into the water to a 

 convenient depth, and then bends down its long neck until its head 

 is upon the same level as its feet ; it then plunges its beak, with the 

 upper mandible downward, into the mud. In this position the 

 bird rakes about at the bottom of the water, moving backward 

 and forward with short steps, and opening and shutting its bill 

 whilst its tongue is busily at work. When taking flight from 

 the sea or lake in which it has been feeding, it not unfrequently 

 goes to a considerable distance, half running and half flying over 

 the surface of the water, much after the the manner of a Duck 

 or Water-hen. When fairly on the wing a flying Flamingo could 

 not be mistaken for any other bird, even by the most unpracticed 

 novice. Unlike the generality of long-necked birds, it stretches 

 not only its long legs, but its neck straight out, thus presenting an 

 appearance of extraordinary length and slenderness ; so that, 

 with its narrow wings exactly in the center, it assumes pretty much 

 the shape of a cross. The loud, harsh voice of these birds some- 

 what resembles that of a goose. The food of the Flamingo consists 

 principally of water-snails, worms, crustaceans, and small fishes, 

 but it by no means despises vegetable substances, and in a state of 

 captivity will eat boiled rice, corn, or soaked bread. The nest is 

 made in shallow places in the water, or as the Arabs assert, upon 

 flat insular spots, overgrown with low vegetation. In the first case 

 the nest is a conical heap of mud scraped together by the feet of 

 the bird, and raised so high that its top is a foot and a half above 

 the water. In the second case it consists of a mere hollow 

 trough, scooped out in the soil and lined with sedge, rushes, grass, 

 and similar materials. The number of eggs laid is generally two, 

 occasionally three. Their shape is elongated, and their shell smooth 

 and of chalky whiteness. 



PLATE LXIX. 

 Common Gannet-— Salon Goose. {Sula bassana.) 



Fig. i. 



The Gannet, or Solon Goose, is a species of marine bird com- 

 mon on the coasts of both Europe and North America. The Arc- 

 tic regions of both continents furnish the necessary abiding-pjace 

 during the summer months. 



According to McGillivray, " When sitting, the Gannets allow a 

 person to approach within three feet, sometimes much nearer, so 

 that one may even touch them. When approached, they merely 

 open their bill and utter their usual cry, or rise to their feet and ex- 

 press some degree of resentment, but little apprehension of danger. 

 They take advantage of the absence of their neighbors to pilfer 

 the materials of their nests; frequently two join in the same act, 

 and occasionally they may be seen at the same bunch, endeavoring 

 to wrest it from each other. They are constantly repairing their 

 nests, which, being composed in great measure of seaweeds, shrink 

 up in dry weather, and decompose in wet ; and when seated close 

 together have frequent quarrels. I saw one seize its neighbor by 

 the back of the neck, and hold fast until the assaulted bird, I may 

 say, roared out; but in general they are satisfied with menacing 

 each other with their open bills and loud clamor. Their cry is hoarse 

 and harsh, and may be expressed by the syllables ' carra, carra, 

 kirra, kirra ;' sometimes it is ' crai, crai,' or ' cru, cru,' or « cree, 

 cree.' The cry varies considerably in different individuals, some 

 having a sharper voice than others ; and when unusually irritated 

 they repeat it with great rapidity." 



"The fishermen," says Mr. Couch, "learn by their actions 

 when shoals of pilchards are present, and what course they are 

 pursuing. The Gannet takes its prey in a different manner from 



