117. Sula bassana. 35 in.

Primaries black: rest of plumage white; back of head tinged with straw color; bill and feet bluish black. Young grayish or brownish black, mottled above and streaked below. This species is the largest and most northerly distributed of the gannet family. Thousands upon thousands of them breed upon high rocky islets off the British coast. The only known nesting places used by them in this country are Bird Rock and Bona-venture Island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence; in these places they nest by thousands, their rough piles of seaweed touching each other in long rows on the narrow ledges.

Notes. - A harsh "gor-r-r-rok." (Chapman).

Range. - North Atlantic, breeding, on the Americar side, only on islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Win ters along the whole United States coast, floating in large flocks out at sea, and rarely coming on land.