478 WEB-FOOTED BIRDS. 



posture, using their rigid tail as an additional means of support. 

 The Cormorants feed almost exclusively on fish ; retirino" from the 

 water with the prey in their bill, and in order to swallow it head 

 foremost, throw it up into the air, and catch it as it descends. They 

 build in high trees or in hollow and shelving rocks, as well as on 

 the ground among reeds : the nest is constructed with little art and 

 of coarse materials ; the eggs are 3 or 4 and whitish. They have 

 sometimes been trained to fish for man. 



The species are rather numerous and spread over the whole world. 



