THE COKMOllANT, SHAG, A^D GANNET. 219 



CHAPTER V. THE CORMOKANT, ^HAG, 

 AND GANNET. 



[These three birds, British allies of the pelican, are of 

 great interest on the coast, where their fishing operations, 

 the diving of the first two, and the wonderful oblique 

 plunge of the last, can be watched wherever there are 

 high cliffs overlooking the shallow bays where they seek 

 their favourite food. Though pleasing on the wing, how- 

 ever, they are all grotesque on land, for, the feet lying far 

 back, they walk with diflSculty, and their movements are 

 devoid of grace.] 



The Cormorant, or " Diver," is a common bird at most 

 Channel ports, where it is seen either flying rapidly over 

 the water, neck and legs stretched out fore and aft, or 

 else perched on some rock, its burnished wings 

 spread to dry in the sun. From its smaller 

 relative the shag it is distinguished by the white feathers 

 on the neck, a large white patch on the thigh, and some 

 yellow skin at the throat. As in the rest of the order, the 

 nostrils are covered by a membrane. The bill is sharply 

 hooked on the lower mandible, the value of which may 

 be seen where, as at Regent's Park, the bird is fed in 

 captivity. In many countries, and by a few amateurs in 

 these islands, among them Mr Salvin, the cormorant has 

 been successfully trained to catch fish, which it is pre- 

 vented from swallowing by a tightly fitting collar. This 

 practice comes from the East. When seen flying rapidly 

 over the water, the cormorant is usually bound for some 

 fixed destination. For several years now there has been 

 a single old male cormorant in Bournemouth Bay, and I 

 have watched it from my boat, when about three miles 

 from shore, day, after day and at all seasons, fly every 

 hour or so from Swanage across to Hengistbury Head and 

 back. It is always alone, so I should be inclined to put 

 it down as an old bachelor, as it is well known that a 



