18 Dr. R. 0. Cunningham on the Solan Goose. 
that the bird is capable of inflicting a most severe bite with the 
razor-like edge of its mandibles; for on one occasion, when a 
live specimen was brought to me, it made a cut between two 
and three inches long on the hand of its captor. 
Macgillivray has well described the mode of flight of the Solan 
Geese in the following words :—“ In launching from the cliffs, 
they frequently utter a single plaintive cry, perform a curve, 
having its concavity upwards, then shake the tail, frequently 
the whole plumage, draw the feet backwards, placing them close 
under the tail on each side, and cover them with the feathers. 
In some the feet were entirely covered, while in others parts of 
the toes were apparent. In flying the body, tail, neck, and bill, 
are nearly in a straight line; the wings extended, and never 
brought close to the body, and they move by regular flappings, 
alternating with regular sailings. In alighting, they generally 
ascend in along curve, keeping their feet spread, and come down 
rather heavily, often finding it difficult to balance themselves, 
and sometimes, when the place is very steep, or when another 
bird attacks them, flying off to try it a second time.” The 
Gannet appears to have considerable difficulty in taking wing 
when on low ground; and hence individuals which have flown 
inland and alighted are not uncommonly captured. Thus Wil- 
lughby informs us that the bird he described “ was taken alive 
near Coleshil, a market-town in Warwickshire;” and many 
similar instances are on record. 
As has been truly said by a late eminent naturalist, “the 
early and more recent records of the Gannet are full of fond in¬ 
ventions ; ” and nowhere is this assertion more fully borne out 
than in the extravagant accounts that have been given regarding 
its power of diving. The late William Thompson, for example, 
in his admirable f Natural History of Ireland/ states, on the 
authority of a post-master at Ballantrae, in Ayrshire, that Gan- 
nets have been taken in nets at depths of 180 feet in that 
neighbourhood. Now it seems entirely inconceivable that a 
Gannet, if ever it penetrated to such a depth, could ever come 
to the surface again; and even if it were capable of doing so, it 
is extremely improbable, to say the least, that it would take 
such an amount of trouble to procure prey that might be ob- 
