BIRDS OF DUMFRIESSHIRE 
to Mr. Service, but as the latter did not want them, he 
liberated them, when they flew to a great height and 
departed. r o i.i ^ 
The rugged coasts of the north and west of bcotiand, 
Ireland, and south Wales afford numerous suitable localities 
for breeding-colonies of this species; the nearest colonies to 
Dumfriesshire being in the Isle of Man, and on the coast 
of south Ayrshire.* 
The Shag may be distinguished from the Cormorant 
by its smaUer size and by its tail-feathers, which are twelve 
in number, and not fourteen as in the case of the latter ; 
and on the wing the adult is distinguishable by the absence 
of any white on its throat. 
THE GANNET. 8ula hassana (Linnseus). 
Local name— Solan Goose. 
An uncommon visitor. 
The Gannet occurs in the Solway Firth at uncertain intervals 
and in scanty numbers when following shoals of herring and 
mackerel ; but it is seldom seen off the coast of Dumfries- 
shire 
All my records of the occurrence of this species in the 
county are from inland localities, and refer, therefore, 
to storm-driven birds. The nearest nesting-station is 
Ailsa Craig, some sixty to seventy miles distant, and here 
the Gannets nest in thousands. A few pairs have bred on 
the Big Scaur (Wigtownshire), but not of recent years. 
A bird in the plumage of the first year was captured 
the latter part of October, 1828, " a considerable way up 
Moffat Water, Dumfriesshire. It was taken on a marshy 
pool by a herd boy, and seemed much exhausted. There 
* Fauna of Clyde Area, 1901, p. 165. 
