CATALOGUE OF BlBDS. 70 



to make a savory dish, they are, in the immature 

 state, hy no means unpalatable when properly cooked. 



One spring when I was stopping at Canty Bay, I 

 went into the kitchen at the inn, where Adams, the 

 landlord — who then rented the Bass Rock — was 

 getting his dinner. At his request I was helped to 

 (what he called) a plate of Hare soup. There was no 

 denying the fact that I have seldom tasted better soup, 

 but I hardly believe that I should have fancied it 

 much at the time if I had known it had been prepared 

 from certain portions of two Cormorants and a Shag 

 that I had shot near the Bass a few days before. 



Though using the Bass Rock as a roosting station 

 in great numbers during the winter and early spring, 

 none of these birds have ever been known to breed on 

 the rock. 



The specimens in the case were shot at the Bass 

 Rock, in September, 1874. 



SHAG. 



Case 79. 



This wild-looking bird is common round many parts 

 of our islands, usually being found more numerous 

 where the coast is steep and rocky. 



Single pairs of this species are occasionally found 

 breeding by themselves, as in the caves at the Bass 

 Rock, and on the '' Pinnacles " at the Fern Islands, but 

 more commonly they nest in colonies of smaller or 

 larger size. They used formerly to be plentiful at the 

 Ferns, but during the last two years that I have visited 

 the Islands, there was but one pair. 



