THE GANNET 
The Gannet is about the size of a goose, and 
has a head and neck tinged with a light buff-colour. 
All the rest of the plumage is white, except the tips 
of the wings, which are black. 
When the Gannet first comes from the shell he 
is a remarkably ugly young person, having a bare, 
inky-black skin, and being quite blind. He soon 
improves in appearance, and before many days he is 
covered with fluffy white down, which makes him 
look like a powder puff. Afterwards he has brown 
feathers, tipped with white, which give him a spotted 
appearance, and this coat lasts until the fourth year, 
when he has the dazzling plumage of the adult. 
The Mother Gannet never lays more than one 
egg at a sitting. This is of a bluish colour, but is 
covered with a chalky-white substance which can be 
washed off. She feeds the young one with a milky 
fluid from her beak. 
Both the father and the mother take turns in 
sitting upon the egg, which is hatched after six 
weeks. The nest is merely a rough pile of seaweed, 
and it is generally built on the narrow ledges of a 
rock, where hundreds of other Gannets have their 
abode also. It is a very amusing sight to see Mrs. 
lOO 
