19 
Dr. R. 0. Cunningham on the Solan Goose. 
tained so much more easily. Several eminent authors have gone 
to the other extreme, and deny that the Gannet ever dives at 
all; but I can testify from personal observation that this is in¬ 
correct. 
Owing to the extreme power of dilatation which its oesophagus 
possesses, the bird is capable of swallowing fish of very consi¬ 
derable dimensions. Its food, in the Firth of Forth and the 
other Scottish localities where it occurs, consists principally of 
herrings, and, in the English Channel, of pilchards. A specimen 
which I obtained last winter, and which was kept alive for a 
few days, was fed on herrings which had been previously ex¬ 
tracted from the stomach of a Seal ; these it swallowed very 
rapidly, head foremost. Its powers of digestion seemed to be 
vigorous; for on examining its stomach after it was killed it was 
found to be nearly empty, with the exception of cod-hooks, 
which must have been swallowed some time previously and were 
considerably worn. Not rarely it becomes so gorged with food 
as to be unable to rise from the surface of the water, on which 
it reposes in a lethargic state ; and while in this condition it 
may be easily run down and captured if advanced upon in a 
boat. It is scarcely necessary to mention that the statement of 
Pennant and other writers, that the Gannet possesses a gular 
pouch similar to that of the Pelican, and capable of containing 
five or six herrings, is entirely without foundation. The old 
bird, according to Macgillivray, at first feeds its young “ with a 
kind of fish soup prepared in its gullet and stomach, and which 
it introduces drop by drop, as it were, into its throat. But 
when its nursling is pretty well grown, it places its bill within 
its mouth and disgorges the fish either entire or in fragments. 
They never carry fish to the rock in their bills.” The cry of 
the young bird is a shrill squeak, while that of the old bird is 
hoarse and resembles the syllables u carra carra ,; or “kurra 
kurra” rapidly repeated. From one to two thousand of the 
young birds are killed annually for sale, and, after being plucked, 
obtain a price of from sixpence to a shilling each. Formerly, 
when they were held in greater value, they used to fetch consi¬ 
derably more : thus we find that in Ray’s time they cost Is. 8 d. 
apiece. At one time they figured at the tables of the Scottish 
c 2 
