244 STORIES ABOUT BIRDS. 



It is a large bird, with webbed feet like the pelican. But the middle toe 

 is notched like a saw to help it hold its prey. 



The feathers of the head and neck are of a jetty blackness, and the body 

 is very thick and heavy, a little like a goose. The bill is straight till near 

 the end, when the upper part bends into a hook. It is, as we said before, 

 very greedy, and nothing seems to satisfy it. It would go on eating almost 

 for ever. 



But the Chinaman has a way of checking the greediness of the 

 cormorants. He has tamed them and taught them to catch fish. But he 

 will not trust them unless he ties a bit of string round their throats, to 

 prevent them from swallowing what they have caught. 



He goes sailing up the river in his boat, and the cormorants are all 

 perched about him. By-and-by he stops, for he has come to a place where 

 he knows there is plenty of fish. The cormorant sees the fish almost before 

 his master, and down he pounces into the water. He comes up with a fish 

 in his bill, and then his master gives him a call. The bird comes in a minute, 

 and drops the fish in the boat. The other cormorants are busy fishing all 

 the time, so that he soon gets his boat full. Of course, the birds expect 

 something to eat for their trouble, and when the day's work is over they have 

 their turn, to say nothing of a stray fish now and then that is thrown to them. 



Sometimes the cormorant plays with a fish as a cat does with a mouse, 

 letting it go and diving after it, several times, but in the end it brings it out 

 safe enough. 



The Chinese are not the only people who know the value of the 

 cormorant as a fisher. It is said that the birds were once used in England 

 for the same purpose. 



The cormorant eats so much that it is very fat and heavy, but still it is 

 an active bird, and is constantly flying about. 



It drops down from a great height to dive after its prey, and is seldom 

 seen except when there is fish to be had. It very seldom makes an unsuccess- 

 ful dive, and is often seen rising with a fish larger than it can swallow, and 

 sometimes it has caught the fish by the tail, which is rather awkward. la 

 this case, the bird tosses the fish up in the air, so that it turns over, and comes 

 head first into its mouth. 



Like the pelicans, the cormorants can perch on^a tree, and they are fond 

 of sitting on the ledges of rocks, where they make their nests. 



