^5^ The Irish Naturalist, July, 
plucked, and as to their eggs, the author considers them better eating 
than Guillemots', which may well be the case. The rent of the Bass Rock 
in Ray's time was ^^130 per annum ; it is now only the tenant 
recouping himself not by the sale of birds, but by visitors' fees. 
Attention is drawn to the very poor sense of smell and hearing in the 
Gannet, there being no external nostrils and the ear orifice being less 
than the one -tenth of an inch, and capable of contraction to the size 
of a pin's head. Its sight is marvellous, since from a height of from 
100 to 140 feet it can plunge into the sea and capture a fish several fathoms 
beneath the surface. 
Chapter xvii. deals with mortality amongst Gannets, and that this 
is excessive amongst the young is well known, but one of the contributory 
causes does not seem to be directly mentioned, i.e., the difficulty a young 
Gannet must experience in learning to plunge successfully from a height 
of 100 feet. Fortunately when it leaves the nest it weighs more than 
half as much again as its parent, roughly 8 lbs. to 5 lbs. (p. 494), and 
being surrounded by a layer of fat can exist for some weeks without 
food. As to the age of maturity, there is, according to Mr. Gurney, a 
great diversity of opinion. Howard Saunders says 6 ; Booth, 4^ ; 
M'Gillivray, 2 ; and Gurney, 7.\ to 3 years. 
The comparative scarcity of immature Gannets about the breeding 
stations is well known, but it is nothing at all to what takes place in the 
case of the Kittiwake, the young of the previous year being never seen 
except on the rarest occasions anywhere near the cliffs in summer. The 
late Mr. A. G. More was persuaded that the young Kittiwakes, and probably 
the young Gannets also went far out to sea during the breeding season , 
an opinion which is corroborated by the fact that on four occasions, 
when the reviewer was crossing the Atlantic, numbers of immature or 
" Magpie " Gannets were seen several hundred miles from shore, and 
around Rockall all the Kittiwakes observed were immature. 
There are some interesting footnotes — for example : — Mr. Gurney, 
junior, ascertained that in 1898 24,229 Fulmar Petrels were taken in the 
Westmann Islands, a Gannet-breeding station, and although a Gannet 
takes from May 15th, when the egg is laid, to September 25th, when it 
first begins to fish (p. 375), a young Albatross is ten months old before 
it can fly at all (footnote, p. 374). 
The difficulty of killing an adult Gannet by choking is not alluded to. 
This is probably due to the numerous air-cells which surround the Gannet's 
body and communicate with the lungs. 
The last two chapters on the Gannet's osteology and anatomy show 
the wonderful structure of the skeleton, and the system of air-cells above 
mentioned, without both of which the tremendous force of the impact 
with the water would stun the bird when plunging from a height of 100 feet. 
If the book has any fault, it is, perhaps, due to occasional repetition — 
this may have been unavoidable. It should be on the book -shelf of 
every naturalist who takes an interest in one of the most remarkable 
birds in our British avifauna. 
R. M. B. 
