SULA.
Tail 12 feathers.
Sula bassana bassana (L.). GANNET. Fr. Fou de Bassan ; Ger. Bass FUlpel ; //a/. Sula ; Swed. Hafsula.
White ; crown and nape buff ; primaries black ; on top of toes a row of plates, continued up tarsus in three rows with reticulations between. Iris yellowish white. Naked skin round eye, eyelid, and centre of chin pale blue. Bill livid blue with dark slate lines. Legs and feet greyish black, back of toes and front of tarsus greenish. Wing 465-5oo. Tarsus 55-57. Bill 90-97. Young : first year, above dark brown with white spots ; beneath buff mottled greyish brown ; the white plumage is gradually assumed and complete adult dress attained in fourth year.
Breeds.—Scottish Coasts (several colonies), Ireland (one colony), \Vales (one colony), Faroes, Iceland, and in America in Gulf of St Lawrence and off S. Newfoundland. In winter ranges south to Canary Islands, Azores, Madeira, and \V. Coast of Africa, occasional in Mediterranean, rare in Baltic Sea ; on American Coast south to Gulf of Mexico.