386 PHALACROCORAX CARBO. 



on shore for the purpose. I have usually found fragments of 

 quartz and bits of stone in the stomach ; hut these may have 

 been swallowed by the fishes on which they had fed ; for the 

 membranous structure of the stomach incapacitates it from 

 pounding or grinding the food. 



These birds seldom roost all the year round in the places 

 where they nestle, but generally after the breeding season 

 repose at night on some rock at a convenient distance from 

 their fishing-stations, which, during winter, are chiefly in 

 estuaries, bays, and creeks, although often also in the open 

 sea. In one of the islands in the sound of Harris is a rock 

 on which these birds rest at night, especially in winter. A 

 person well acquainted Avith the place, as I have been 

 informed, has ascended the cliff in the dark, and moving 

 cautiously, has secured a considerable number of individuals 

 before the rest became alarmed, breaking by a sudden bend 

 the neck of each as he caught it. The natives of St. Kilda 

 use the same method in catching Gannets. The Cormorants 

 fly to and from these places in strings, at no great height 

 over the water, with a steady and moderately quick flight, 

 strongly contrasted with that of Gulls and Terns, w hich are 

 ever deviating to either side, and resembling that of the 

 Gannets, which, how^ever, have a lighter flight, and sail at 

 frequent intervals. Shy and suspicious, they seldom, even in 

 the most unfrequented places, allow a near approach, and 

 when fishing in a creek, or place overlooked by high banks, 

 are particularly vigilant. If they see a person at some dis- 

 tance, they sink their body deeper in the water ; and should 

 one come nearer, they keep it entirely submersed, the head 

 and part of the neck only being visible. As they dive with 

 extreme rapidity, it is very difficult to shoot them while they 

 are fishing. They are not much in request, however, among 

 sportsmen and poachers, for, although in some remote parts 

 their flesh is esteemed tolerable eating, it is of a dark-red 

 colour, disagreeable to the eye not less than to the palate ; 

 but its being strong-flavoured or fishy renders it not inapt for 

 soup, in the state of which the juices of the Cormorant are 

 not unpleasant. The young are somewhat better, but the 



