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THE NATURALIST. 



year)were mature birds, and mostly males, tliey were in full summer plumage, 

 excepting a few wMte feathers which had just made their appearance around 

 the base of the bill, and over the red patch of the throat ; one example 

 however, the male, that was received from Ipswich, had no indication what- 

 ever of this change of plumage. The following is the correct measurement 

 of the first male specimen as mentioned above : — 



Total length from beak to tail ... ... ... 28 inches 



"Wing from carpal joint ... ... ... ... 12 „ 



Bill tip to gap ... ... ... ... ... 3f „ 



Iris, dark red ; bill, black ; assuming a pale horn colour, at the tip of the 

 upper mandible, and towards the bas3. AU the captured individuals that I 

 examined appeared to have subsisted well since their arrival, they were all 

 in good condition, and in some cases exceedingly fat. In dissecting them, I 

 found some of their stomachs filled with the remains of fish, such as scales, 

 bones, &c., intermixed with bits of reed, weed, and their grindstones ; one 

 of the latter that I picked out measured just an inch across. I also obtained 

 from one of their stomachs an entire specimen of the roach, it measured five 

 and a half inches in length, the head being crushed, and the fins and tail 

 broken, caused by the bird dashing its victim from side to side previous to 

 swallowing it. 



Gannet. An adult pair of this species have been killed in Norfolk 

 during the present season, the female bird on the 3rd of October, on the 

 coast near Sherringham ; and the male on the 21st of the same month in. the 

 neighbourhood of Yarmouth. I took the measurements of the female, only, 

 which are as follows : 



Beak to tail, (both included) ... ... ... 37 inches 



Tip to tip of extended wings ... ... ... 6 feet. 



Wing carpal joint to tip ... ... ... 19 inches 



Bill tip to gap ... ... ... 5 J inches 



Tail ... ... ... lOJ inches 



Iris, silvery grey j primary quill feathers, black ; the second, the longest; 

 bill, of a uniform pale horn colour ; space around the irides and the base of 

 bill, of a deep bluish black ; the two centre feathers of its tail project one 

 and a quarter inches beyond the tips of the others. The outside surface 

 of the shaft of the first primary quill feather, of a deep black; inside, white; 

 the shafts of the remainder, being of a pale tawney outside ; white, inside. 

 The bird appeared in rather a meagre condition, its stomach being empty. 

 The male bird was in excllent plumage and condition. 



