562 
GANNET. 
parts of the wing, which are black ; the legs and 
toes are black, but the fore part of both is marked 
with a stripe of fine pea green. The tail consists 
of twelve sharp pointed feathers, the middle of 
which is the longest. Under the chin of the bird 
there is a dilatable pouch like that of the pelican, 
which is large enough to contain five or six her- 
rings, and in the breeding season this pouch is used 
to convey those fish in to its young. A large gan- 
net will weigh seven pounds, and measure three feet 
in length. 
This species of water fowl is not confined to the 
Bass-isle, but frequents, in prodigious numbers, the 
isle of Ailsa in the Firth of Clyde, and the rocks 
adjacent to St. Kilda. They are found likewise 
about the Orkneys, and off the coasts of Kerry in 
Ireland ; and Mr. Pennant received one from Dr. 
Borlase, which he sent from Cornwall. He in- 
forms us that the gannet cornes on the coasts of 
Cornwall in the latter end of summer, or beginning 
of autumn, hovering over the shoals of pilchards 
that come down through St. George’s channel from 
the Northern seas, The gannet seldom comes near 
the shore, but is constant to its prey, a sure sign to 
the fishermen that the pilchards are on the coasts ; 
and when the pilchards retire, generally about the 
end of September, the gannets are seen no more. 
“ The bird now sent,” continues this gentleman, 
“ was killed at Chandour, near Mounts Bay, Sep- 
tember 30, 1/62, after a long struggle with a water 
spaniel, assisted by the boatmen ; for it was strong 
