348 THE BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



(Plate 147), and are laid as a rule in May. In down the young 

 are said to be protected by their colour, chocolate-brown, with 

 a median white streak ; unlike other raptorial birds, and indeed 

 all true nest building species, they are born with the eyes open. 

 They will make a show of ferocity, but quickly subside if 

 handled. 



The male Osprey is dark brown above ; the head is white, 

 streaked with brown, and there is a broad band of brown from 

 the eye to the nape. The under parts, except for a brown breast 

 band, are white. The bill and claws are black, the cere and 

 legs blue, and the irides yellow. The female is the larger bird. 

 In immature birds the dark feathers have pale edges and buff 

 tips, as shown in the plate. Male : Length, 22 ins. Wing, 19 

 ins. Tarsus, 2'2 ins. Female: Length, 24 ins. Wing, 21 ins. 

 Tarsus, 2*4 ins. 



Order PELFXANIFORMES. 



Birds with the four toes connected by membrane. 



Family PHALACROCORACID.'^. Cormorants. 



Cormorant. Fhalacrocorax carbo (Linn.). 



The Cormorant (Plate 155) is found almost everywhere in 

 northern seas and inland waters of large size, and closely allied 

 forms breed in Africa and Australasia. The more northern 

 breeders migrate south, and there is, in the British Isles, a 

 noticeable southward movement in autumn. In the British 

 Isles the breeding range is in many places coincident with that 

 of the Shag, but in the north and west of Scotland the smaller 

 bird predominates ; elsewhere, as a rule, the Cormorant is the 

 more abundant species. 



