. Natural history. Zoology. GANNETS— CORMORANTS. 299. Fig. 55.—The Common Gansbt (Jiysparus hasmnus). The Gannets are distributed over the seas of the greater part of the world, and are easily recognisable both from their internal and external characters. Like the Tropic-Birda, they have a nearly straight bill without any hook in it, and there is a small and scarcely perceptible pouch, though much of the face and throat is bare. During the breeding season the Gannets leave their fishing grounds to a great extent, and our own species resorts to certain rooky places on our coast, of which Ailsa
. Natural history. Zoology. GANNETS— CORMORANTS. 299. Fig. 55.—The Common Gansbt (Jiysparus hasmnus). The Gannets are distributed over the seas of the greater part of the world, and are easily recognisable both from their internal and external characters. Like the Tropic-Birda, they have a nearly straight bill without any hook in it, and there is a small and scarcely perceptible pouch, though much of the face and throat is bare. During the breeding season the Gannets leave their fishing grounds to a great extent, and our own species resorts to certain rooky places on our coast, of which Ailsa Craig and the Bass Rock are the best known, and there builds a The Gannets.— rough nest of sticks and Sub-order Sulce. seaweed, and lays a single chalky-white egg. This chalky egg is a peculiarity of nearly every member of the Pelican-like birds, and in the Gannets and Cormorants it is a distinct feature. On scrubbing the egg, however, with a brush, the chalky surface can be removed, and the egg appears of a delicate blue, like that of a Heron. The flight of a Gannet is very fine, and the birds are capable of covering great distances in a very short space of time, while it is certain that during the nesting season the parent birds have to go far afield to their fishing grounds to procure food for the young. Only one egg is laid, and the young birds are at first naked, and of a slaty- black colour. They then become covered with a thick coating of white down, and afterwards attain their first full plumage, which is greyish-brown with white spots, but it is believed that five moults are required before the birds attain their full white plumage. Although agreeing in osteological characters with the preceding groups, the Cormorants and Darters have certain evident peculi- arities which separate them from the Gannets and Tropic- Birds. The bill is more raptorial, and is furnished with a hook at the end, and the tail-feathers are more stiffened than in these birds. This is espec
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