348 



CORMORANT GROUP 



blended with white. A somewhat browner tint of tlieir down dis- 

 tinguishes the nestlings from those of the cormorant. 



The name shag is said to be the slightly modified Gaelic term for 

 a hawk. Unlike the cormorant, the shag has an exceedingly restricted 

 distribution, and is, in fact, confined to western Europe, where it ranges 

 from Iceland and the Faroes to Scandinavia antl the Atlantic coasts of 

 France and Portugal. In the Mediterranean it is replaced by a species 

 (P. desniarcsti) which ranges eastward to the Black and Caspian Seas. 

 Even in the North Sea it is an uncommon bird on the eastern coasts, 



and has well-nigh dis- 

 appeared on the corre- 

 sponding side of the 

 Baltic. The Indian shag 

 (/^. fusci colli s) is a dis- 

 tinct species. Although 

 resident on all the British 

 coasts, the species is in 

 most districts less com- 

 mon than the cormorant ; 

 but on the westward and 

 northern isles of Scotland 

 it ma)- perhaps outnum- 

 l:)cr the latter, antl on the 

 rock)- parts of the coast 

 of Dorset it is the sole re- 

 presentative of the genus. 

 Everywhere the bird is 

 more abundant on the 

 SHAGS. western than on the 



eastern coasts of Great 

 I^ritain ; the rocky coasts of Wales being some of its favourite resorts. 

 In Ireland it breeds wherever the coasts are rock)' and precipitous ; 

 and in Galway, Mayo, and Donegal is considerabl)' more numerous 

 than the cormorant. 



In two respects the shag differs from the cormorant in the matter 

 of habit. In the first place, it is cs.sentially a marine species, only 

 straggling occasionally into freshwatcrs ; and, second!)', it in\ariably 

 breeds on rocks and never in trees. Curiously enough, in both these 

 respects it differs from the Indian shag, which is almost entircU' an 

 inland birti. When caves arc available, both the true and the 

 Mediterranean shag make use of them for breeding-purposes ; and 



