212 
COMMON GANNET. 
abundant, disagreeable to the eye as well as the nose ; its gait is awkward ; 
and even its pale owl-like eyes glare on you with an unpleasant expression. 
Add to this, the expense of its food, and I can easily conceive that you will 
not give it a place in your aviary, unless for the mere amusement of seeing 
it catch the food thrown to it, which it does like a dog. 
The feathers of the lower parts of the Gannet differ from those of most 
other birds, in being extremely convex externally, which gives the bird the 
appearance of being covered beneath with light shell-work, exceedingly 
difficult to be represented in a drawing. 
Sula bassana, Bonap. Syu., p. 408. 
Gannet, Sula bassana, Nutt. Man., vol. ii. p. 495. 
Common Gannet, Sula bassana, Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. iv. p. 222. 
Adult, 40$, 75. Young fledged, 38, 72. 
Ranges southward off the coast at all seasons as far as the Gulf of Mexico. 
Breeds on rocks on the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and off the coast of Labrador. 
Abundant. Migratory. 
Adult Male. 
Bill longer than the head, opening beyond the eyes, straight, elongated- 
conical, moderately compressed. Upper mandible with the dorsal line 
straight and declinate, at the end convex and a little decurved ; ridge very 
broad, convex, with a slight median carina, and separated on each side, from 
the sides, which are nearly perpendicular, slightly convex, and have an addi- 
tional narrow jointed piece below the eye ; edges sharp, direct, irregularly 
serrate, with numerous slender cuts directed backwards ; tip compressed, a 
little decurved, rather acute. No external nostrils. Lower mandible with 
the angle very long and narrow, the dorsal line straight, ascending, the sides 
erect, convex, the edges sharp and serrated, the tip compressed and sharp. 
Head large ; neck of moderate length and very thick, body of moderate 
bulk, rather elongated ; wings long. Feet short, strong, placed rather far 
behind ; tibiae concealed ; tarsus very short, rounded before, sharp behind, 
at its upper part anteriorly with rather large roundish-flat scales, in the rest 
of its extent with very small oblong tubercles ; anteriorly there are three 
lines of small transversely oblong scutella, which run down the toes. The 
latter are long and slender, all united by membranes, which are reticularly 
granulated, and have their margins straight ; first toe rather small, directed 
inwards and forwards, middle toe longest, the outer almost equal. Claws of 
moderate size, slightly arched, those of the first and middle toes depressed, 
the latter with its inner edge thin and pectinated. 
Plumage generally close, rather compact, the feathers small and rounded : 
those on the head and neck blended and slightly glossed. A bare space 
