2'.K"> Some Interesting Birds. \ 



The shoi'cs of the Moditci-ranean are occupied by a ■ 

 brighter form (P. desmaresti), but its specific distinctness 

 is very doubtful. 



Habits, etc.: Its favourite liauuts are rugged, roclvy 

 coasts, and in the hollows and recesses of these it malces its ^ 

 nest, and rears its young— such a site is portrayed in Mr. 

 Willford's beautiful photograph, showing a brooding Shag, 

 which was taken this summer on the Scilly Isles— in such ' 

 places the Shag is very numerous, more so than the Common ; 

 Cormorant, and is more inclined to be gregarious than the i 

 latter species. The nest i^ a conglomeration of sea -weed j 

 and grass matted and plastered together, and its vicinity is | 

 not pleasant to human olfactory organs, for it gives forth an ' 

 atrocious foetid odour. Three to four eggs are laid, mostly 

 oblong, but the shape is variable; of rough outside texture; j 

 there is an under shell of pale blue with a chalky -white | 

 coating. On our south coasts eg^ laying commences in April | 

 and young have been found by the middle of May, but the 

 season is later in the north. The nestling is bare at flrst and i 

 of a purplish -black colour, Init a sparse coat of dark brown | 

 down is gradually assumed; its eyes remain closed till about i 

 the fourteenth day. The method of feeding is as follows: , 

 some little time after the parent bird has fed it mounts the ; 

 side of the nest, and opens its mouth to its widest extent, ^ 

 which the young bird enters, as far as its flapping wings 

 permit and feeds on the macerated food in its parent's crop. 



The Shag is a diving l)ird and in some localities is 

 sometimes called " Diver," which designation is also applied 

 to r. carho. The action of diving is commenced b-y a sort 

 of spring out of the water, it possesses the power to dive to ' 

 a good depth, for it has been taken in a cfab-pot fixed at ; 

 twentj fathoms below the surface. It feeds on sea fish, in ' 

 the capture of which it calls its diving powers into full i)Iay. 

 Shags busily engaged, diving for prey, may be observed at ' 

 most seaside resorts, where the coast is rocky, by any who j 

 care to take the trouble to look for them. 



I cannot lay aside my pen without congi'atulating xMr. | 

 Willford on the excellent examples of his ])li()i()grai)hic skill, i 

 which illustrate these notes. ' 



(To he Go>itinued). 



