GANNET, OR SOLAN GOOSE. 79

the middle of April. A few stay and breed here, but the greater mass press. northward in the spring migration, and are not seen again till the fall. They are graceful birds, with long, flat bodies, and slender bills. Males have glossy green heads, with a thin crest, back and wings white and black, breast reddish. They are graceful and active (livers, slipping under the water without any splash or inverting of the body, and in flight make no whistling, as Golden- eyes do. They are among the most abundant

birds of our bays during the migratory seasons.

MW CANNET, OR SOLAN GOOSE.

(SI/[a banana)

The Gannet resembles a goose in general appearance, but is white with black primaries, like the ordinary Sea Gull, and fishes by dashing into the water for its prey, as Sea Gulls d0. Gannets are common on the fishing grounds of the Gulf, and breed on the lonely Bird Rocks, in its mid-waters, north of the Magdalens.

The Common Cormorant—a heavy, black bird,