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herring on which it feeds, and as the fisherman starts off on a similar 
pursuit, he eagerly looks for direction to where these natural fishers 
are at work. The Gannet is provided with a wonderful apparatus in 
the shape of a series of small sacks lying immediately beneath the 
skin of the breast. These sacks it can at will inflate, thus forming a 
pneumatic cushion to enable it to resist the impact caused by meeting 
the water after its headlong descent from on high, and also rendering 
its return to the surface more easy on account of this added buoyancy. 
The Gannet breeds in colonies, notably on Ailsa Craig, St. Kilda, 
and the Hass Hock. It builds a somewhat large nest of seaweed and 
grasses, and in this lays a single egg of a very pale blue colour, but 
this ground-colour is quite obscured by a thick deposit of a chalky 
nature. 
Guillemot — The Guillemot is probably the most common of the 
diving birds which visit our coasts each spring to breed. It is this 
bird which, known as “The Ducker," is to be seen from March to 
August at the mouths of our larger estuaries, and along such parts 
of our coast-line as afford the rocky cliffs on which it rears its young. 
It permits a comparatively near approach of boat or steamer, but 
at the last moment shows a clean pair of heels ; disappearing below 
the surface, to reappear after what seems to the observer a very long 
time, in a possibly unite unexpected direction. The Guillemot lays 
her egg on a rocky shelf high above the water, and without anything 
in the shape of nest, and in this connection is seen one of the wonder- 
ful provisions of nature for the preservation of a species ; the egg, a 
single one, very large for the size of the bird, is possessed of a thick 
shell, and while broad at the one end is much elongated, and runs to 
quite a sharp point. This long pointed shape causes the egg when 
disturbed, as by the hurried departure of the sitting bird, to roll round 
in a circle, and it thus remains upon its ledge, which is often but a 
narrow one. Were the egg round like that, say, of the owls, which 
nest in holes, the species would in a comparatively short number of 
years become extinct, unless, of course, the bird changed its habits 
with regard to the site of its nesting place. The eggs of the 
Guillemot vary in colour, being often of a dark blue, others 
of a lighter blue, greeny blue, or creamy white, while a rare type is 
of a dark claret colour, all being blotched with black markings. 
Gull, Black-headed — This bird should really be called the Brown- 
headed Gull, the feathers of its head being dark brown, though in 
contrast to the white of the rest of its plumage appearing black ; or 
better still, the Common Gull, as it is this bird which is most com- 
monly to be seen of the Gull tribe. But this last name has been given 
by ornithologists to “ Larus Canus,” a comparatively rare bird which 
is to be observed only on our remoter coasts, and out-lying isles, and 
is not very plentiful even there. The Black-headed Gull is to be seen 
on our tidal rivers, feeding at such points as where the sewage of our 
towns enters, and in winter it haunts the neighbourhood of our riverside 
towns, where it has become very tame of late years, frequenting at that 
season even such busy places as the Thames Embankment, where it is 
fed by the benevolent. In spring this bird resorts to marshy moors and 
lochs where it breeds, usually in colonies, making a nest of rushes 
and grasses sufficiently high to raise its eggs clear of the water. The 
eggs, two, three, or rarely four in number, are variable in colour : 
a common type is darkish green in ground-colour, spotted and 
blotched with black and brown. This bird is a good friend to man, 
and in spring and autumn may be seen following tt e plough, picking 
up grubs and worms as they are upturned, and by the contrast of 
the silver-white of its plumage against the dark earth ever providing 
a pleasing picture. 
