102 



SOLAND GANNET. 



the back, the rump, and the wings, are also ashy-brown, 

 with lance-shaped white spots, but larger and more 

 distant than those of the neck and breast : the under 

 parts of the plumage are whitish, varied with ashy- 

 brown : the tail and quills are brown, the former 

 conical, with white shafts : the beak is a^hy -brown : 

 the irides are yellow : the fore part of the tarsi and 

 the upper part of the toes are brown-green : the 

 membranes are ashy-brown : the claws brown. At 

 the age of two years, and during the period of 

 moulting, the plumage is either varied with large 

 patches of white, on a brown ground, or of brown on 

 a white ground : in the third year the plumage is 

 perfected. 



This species is abundant in the northern regions 

 of Europe, Asia, and America, and particularly so in 

 the Hebrides, the north of Scotland, and in Norway : 

 it also occurs in more temperate climates, specimens 

 having frequently been captured on the banks of the 

 Thames. A few years back a very fine one was 

 shot on the Medway by S. Henslow, Esq. who com- 

 municated it to me. Montagu says that it is fre- 

 quently observed in the English Channel during 

 the winter, and continues as late as the month of 

 April. 



The food of these birds consists chiefly of marine 

 fish, of which the herring and pilchards are their fa- 

 vourites : they take their prey by darting down upon 

 it with great velocity from a considerable height. 

 The female lays one egg, which is nearly the size of 

 that of a Goose, and equally pointed at each end ; it 

 is of a pure white, and its surface is rugged. The 



