British Sea Birds

by Charles Dixon

GANNET.

This remarkable bird differs in many important respects from all other pelagic species inhabiting the temperate portions of the northern hemisphere. Outside the limits of the British Islands its only other breeding places in Europe are on Iceland and the Faröes. The Gannet or Solan Goose, the Sula bassana of Brisson and modern naturalists, is one of the most pelagic of birds. Except during the breeding season it is rarely seen near land, the thousands of birds that congregate in a few chosen spots round the British coasts dispersing themselves far out to sea as soon as the duties of the year are over. Like the Albatross, the Gannet may almost be said to live in the air. Its powers of flight are simply magnificent. Occasionally a few odd birds may be observed here and there fishing in the bays, during autumn and winter; but the person who would study its habits and movements thoroughly must visit one of its breeding places. There are many colonies of Gannets round the British coasts, one of the most accessible, and perhaps the most famous, being on the Bass Rock, in the Firth of Forth. There are small ones on Lundy Island and Grassholm; large ones on Suleskerry, Sulisker, St. Kilda, Ailsa Craig, and Little Skellig. The adult plumage of the Gannet is white, tinged with buff on the head and neck, except the primaries, which are black. The bare skin round the base of the bill is blue. The bird probably does not attain its white plumage until nearly four years old, passing through a series of mottled stages of black, brown, and white. The young are hatched blind and naked, but eventually become clothed in dense white down. Other structural peculiarities are the closed nostrils, and the subcutaneous air cells almost covering the body, which the bird can fill with air at will, as they communicate with the lungs. Whether seen at its nest, or when fishing at sea, the Gannet is a remarkably interesting bird. As may naturally be inferred, a bird so light and buoyant as the Gannet does not obtain its food by diving. It is incapable of submerging itself even for a little distance, except by gaining sufficient momentum from a plunge headlong from some distance in the air. Nevertheless, the Gannet feeds exclusively on fishes, which it catches almost like a Tern, by dropping from a great height and seizing or impaling them with its strong bill. The Gannets follow the shoals of fish as they swim near the surface. First one bird, and then another, will be seen to poise itself, and then, with closed wings, to dash downwards, glinting like a piece of white marble in the sun, into the sea, disappearing for a moment, then rising again into the air to prepare for another descent. Many Gannets at these times may, perhaps, be seen swimming, but they are merely resting, not fishing. The captured fish is invariably swallowed at once. The sitting birds are kept well supplied with fish by their mates. These fish, however, are not conveyed to them in the beak, but in the gullet, from which they are disgorged, and left by the nest side to be eaten as required. Very often a Gannet will disgorge several large fish before leaving its nest, whilst many more fish are brought to the rocks than are actually eaten. The Gannet is a voracious eater, and often so gorges itself with food as to be incapable of flight. The power of wing of this beautiful bird is wonderful in the extreme. I have seen the Gannet repeatedly keep the air for hours together, apparently without effort, wheeling in graceful curves, and ascending to vast heights, just as Vultures are wont to do.

Although the Gannet is a resident in British waters, it seldom comes near land except to breed. During the nesting season it is very gregarious, and some of its stations contain many thousands of pairs. Early in the spring Gannets begin to assemble at the breeding places, and towards the end of April nest building commences. The nests are made either on the ledges of the cliffs, amongst the broken rock fragments at the summit, or on the flat table-like tops of pinnacles and stacks. Where the birds are numerous and the accommodation limited, great numbers of nests are crowded together; and as may readily be inferred, such close companionship leads to not a few battles between the birds themselves. Indeed, a sort of guerrilla warfare is being waged constantly, and is by no means one of the least interesting features of the never-to-be-forgotten scene. The nest of the Gannet possesses little architectural beauty, and is generally so trodden out of shape as to resemble a mere heaped mass of rubbish, caked together with droppings, and slime, and filth, giving off an almost unbearable stench, especially on a calm hot day in May or June. Seaweed, masses of turf, straws, moss, and stalks of marine plants are the principal materials. The nest is shaped like a flattened cone, the cavity at the top being shallow. It is no unusual thing to see the birds adding to their nests, even when incubation is in progress. The Gannet lays but a single egg, but if this be taken—as it often is, especially in colonies easily accessible to man—the bird will replace it several times in succession. It is pale bluish-green, but generally so thickly coated with chalky matter—and later with stains—as to hide all trace of this colour. There are few more noisy animated scenes in bird life than a Gannet colony, during the height of the breeding season. The stirring sight once witnessed can never be forgotten. The air, for many yards from the face of the cliffs and high above it, is filled with thousands of flying Gannets; every available spot, on the edges and face of the rock itself, is occupied by a Gannet, the standing birds vieing with each other in uttering harsh cries, the flying birds silently drifting to and fro in a mazy bewildering throng. Many of the flying birds are carrying nest materials; many of the birds standing on the rocks are fast asleep! On every side the Gannets are eyeing you suspiciously, some disgorging fish previous to taking wing, others barking defiance as you approach them, and stubbornly remaining upon their egg until absolutely pushed from it. Rock, sea, and air teem with birds. It will, however, be remarked that none of the birds fly over the land; all keep to the face of the cliffs. At the Bass Rock, numbers of young Gannets used to be taken for food, the proprietor baking quantities, and selling them to the country people round about. The taste for baked Solan Geese, however, is not so prevalent as formerly, and the custom seems likely to die out. At St. Kilda, however, the Gannet harvest still continues to be gathered, and the young birds form a welcome article of food.

Ducks, Geese, and Swans

TUFTED DUCK. Chapter v.

CHAPTER V.
DUCKS, GEESE, AND SWANS.

Ducks—Characteristics—Non-diving Ducks—Characteristics of—Changes of Plumage—Sheldrake—Wigeon—Pintail Duck—Various other species—Diving Ducks: Characteristics—Changes of Plumage—Eider Duck—King Eider—Common Scoter—Velvet Scoter—Scaup Duck—Tufted Duck—Pochard—Golden-Eye—Long-tailed Duck—Mergansers—Characteristics and Changes of Plumage—Red-breasted Merganser—Goosander—Smew—Geese—Characteristics—Gray Lag Goose—White-fronted Goose—Bean Goose—Brent Goose—Bernacle Goose—Swans—Characteristics—Changes of Plumage—Hooper Swan—Bewick’s Swan.

Most of the species contained in the present chapter can only be described as Sea-birds during winter. In summer they are chiefly inland species, and resort to fresh waters. Again, the majority of these birds do not breed within the limits of the British Islands; they are winter visitors from more northern lands, and return to those lands in spring. Still there are a few species resident in our area eminently marine in their habits, and forming constant and pleasing features in the bird-life of the coast. United, the Ducks, Geese, and Swans form the well-defined family Anatidæ, which may be readily divided into half-a-dozen sub-families, all but one of which are represented at some time of the year on our seaboard. The most important external characteristics of the birds in this family are the peculiar laminated bill, the short legs, the webbed feet, and the dense compact plumage. The family is almost cosmopolitan in its distribution.