THE BAIRD CORMORANT. 



855 



sprightl}' than the larger species, and also exceedingly sh\\ .Vn inter\ie\v at close 

 qtiarters is inipcjssible, and we must employ stealth to get close enough to one 

 to note the lustrous black plumage with the flashing iridescence of violet and 

 green and purple, the ctn"ious feather-tutts like budding horns, and the blood- 

 red eyes, which impart In their nwners a tierce, not to sa_\' wicked, appearance. 

 Under apprehension of danger, the bird will crane its neck at every concei\'a- 

 ble angle, punctuating its moments of anxiety with a flirt of its mobile tail — 



that is, if that useful member 

 can be spared from its fre- 

 quent duty of assisting the 

 bird to maintain a precarious 

 foothold on some slight pro- 

 jection of the cliff-side. Now 

 and then also the l)ird voids 

 \'igoroiisl_\-. distributing an 

 impartial whitewash o\-er all 

 su rround i ng ob j ect s. 



When the birds of a colony 

 quit their nests, they launch 

 out swiftly, wagging their 

 heads from side to side if the 

 danger is above them. Thev 

 may juin the Puflins and 

 Ciulls for a few rounds of 

 inspecti'jn, but oftener thev 

 .settle in the water at .some 

 distance from the shore, a 

 large company of them look- 

 ing and acting \-er}- much like 

 a flock of black geese. It re- 

 quires quite an effort on the 

 l)ird's part to rise from the 

 water, but this is done with a 

 single mi it inn <<{ the wings, 

 imassisted by the feet, as 

 would be the case with heavy ducks and loons. If the Shag has been diving, 

 it may burst out of the water with the acquired impetus of the chase; and 

 once under way, its flight is swift and vigorous and not altogether 

 ungraceful. 



Baird Cormorants are late nesters. Fresh eggs mav be taken by the 

 middle of June, but the first of July is nearer the height of the season. Nests 

 are bracket-shaped, or quadrispherical, oftener than completelv crater-shaped: 



Taken on the Grcnzille Arch Rock. 



Photo by the Author. 



B.MRD COKMOR.AXTS .-\T XEST. 



