The Gannet is a local species, nesting in enormous numbers on certain rocks which have formed their home for centuries. These colonies are pretty well distributed round our coasts, especially in Scotland and Ireland, but in England, the Farn Islands on the east, and Grassholm in Wales, are their only strongholds, a former colony on Lundy Island being nearly, if not quite, exterminated. The Bass Rock, one of the largest and best known of these colonies, is, in summer, a sight never to be forgotten; the whole of the face of the cliff appearing entirely white, from the closely packed sitting birds, who at this season are very tame and allow themselves to be stroked while incubating.

The nest is a loose accumulation of seaweed and other materials picked up along the shore. A single egg only is laid, which, except in size, resembles that of the Cormorant. The young when first hatched are black and naked, but soon assume a thick covering of white down; they remain in the nest a long time, not leaving it until they are fully fledged.

A party of Gannets fishing is a beautiful sight; they are not divers like the Cormorant but feed on surface-swimming fish, and in winter often follow the shoals of herring and mackerel. Having marked his fish from high up in the air, the Gannet folds his wings and drops on it perpendicularly, striking the water with great force. When not at its breeding haunts it keeps more out at sea than its rock-loving congeners and is very seldom seen sitting on the shore.

The adult is pure creamy white, buff on the crown and nape, and with black primaries. In their first year the young are brown all over, each feather having a small triangular white spot at the tip. The adult plumage is not assumed until the fifth or sixth year, the plumage during youth being various intermediate stages. Length 34 in.; wing 19 in.