COMMON GANNET. 
211 
which would lead you to think that they care as little about the present as 
the future. Now the old birds are freed of part of their cares, they drop 
such fish as they have obtained by the side of their young, and, like Cormo- 
rants, Pelicans, or Herons, seldom bring a supply oftener than once a-day. 
Strange to say, the young birds at this period do not appear to pay the least 
attention to the old ones, which occasionally alight near them, and drop' fish 
for them to feed upon. 
Gannets do not feed, as some have supposed, and as many have believed, 
on herring only ; for I have found in their stomachs codlings eight inches 
in length, as well as very large American mackerels, which, by the way, are 
quite different from those so abundantly met with on the coasts of Europe. 
The young never leave the spot on which they have been reared until 
they are well able to fly, when they separate from the old birds, and do not 
rejoin them until at least a year after. Although I have in a few instances 
found individuals yet patched with dark grey spots, and with most of their 
primary quills still black, I am confident that it is not until the end of two 
years that they acquire their full plumage. I have seen some with one wing 
almost pure black, and the tail of that colour also ; others with the tail only 
black ; and several with pure black feathers interspersed among the general 
white plumage. 
I know of no other bird that has so few formidable enemies as the Gan- 
net. Not one of the species of Lestris with which I am acquainted ever 
attempts to molest it ; and, although I have seen the Frigate Pelican in quest 
of food within a short distance of it, I never saw it offer injury. The insular 
rocks on which it breeds are of course inaccessible to quadrupeds. The only 
animals, so far as I know, that feed on the eggs or young, are the Larus 
morinus and Larus glaucus. It is said that the Skua, Lestris Catarrades , 
sometimes pursues the Gannets, but that species does not exist in North 
America ; and I am inclined to doubt the truth of this statement, for I have 
never seen a Lestris of any kind attack a bird equal to itself in size and 
strength. 
Soon after the young Gannets are able to fly, all the birds of the species 
leave the breeding place, and absent themselves until the following season. 
While at Newfoundland, I was told that the English and French fishermen 
who inhabit that country salt young Gannets for winter provision, as is done 
in Scotland ; but I saw none there. In my estimation, the flesh of this bird 
is so bad that, as long as any other can be procured, it ought to be rejected. 
It is a curious fact, that the Gannets often procure mackerels or herrings 
four or five weeks before the- fishermen fall in with them on our coast ; but 
this is easily explained by their extensive wanderings. Although this bird 
is easily kept in captivity, it is far from being a pleasant pet. Its ordure is 
