THE GANNET 
A grey isle, sombre and forlorn, 
Washed by the white-fringed sea. 
Contains the nook where we were born, 
And live in jeopardy. 
For, to our rock, by ways unguessed. 
Rough men come every day. 
And let down ropes, to reach our nest, 
And carry us away. 
When Mrs. Gannet is sitting on her nest, wait- 
ing for her eggs to be hatched, she has a splendid 
view over the wide tossing ocean. For she is a sea- 
bird, and loves to wing her way over the foamy 
billows, and her nest is perched high on a rocky 
ledge of some steep cliff, where a man could hardly 
find a foothold. 
The Gannet is one of the largest sea-birds to be 
found on the coasts of Great Britain. During the 
spring and autumn many tens of thousands gather 
together in certain places, such as Lundy Isle, and 
many of the islands round Scotland, especially the 
famous rock known as the Bass Rock. 
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