CORMORANTS 123 



through which all organisms are sifted, and through 

 the meshes of which only those of a certain description 

 are able to pass. Bateson compares it to a public 

 examination to which every organism must submit 

 itself. Those animals that fail to get through are killed. 

 The standard of the examination may vary in various 

 parts of the world. 



So much for cormorants in general and the puzzle 

 they present to evolutionists. Let us now consider for 

 a little while our Indian cormorants. For once India 

 is at a disadvantage as compared with New Zealand. 

 There are but three species found in this country — the 

 great, the lesser, and the little cormorant. The last — 

 Phalacocorax javanicus — is the most commonly seen 

 of them all. It is to be found in the various backwaters 

 round about Madras, being especially abundant in the 

 vicinity of Pulicat. At the place where the canal runs 

 into the lake there are a number of stakes driven into 

 the canal bed ; these project above the level of the 

 water, and on every one of them a little cormorant is 

 to be seen. Cormorants in such a position always put 

 me in mind of the pillar saints of ancient times. Al- 

 though very active in the water, cormorants become 

 statuesque in their stillness when they leave it. 



The lesser cormorant (Phalacocorax fuscicollis) breeds 

 in nests in the trees on the islets which stud the Red- 

 hills Tank near Madras, also on the tank at Vaden 

 Tangal, near Chingleput. The third species of cor- 

 morant found in India is the great cormorant {Phala- 

 cocorax carho). This is the one which is world-wide in 

 its distribution. It is a large bird, being over 2 ft. 6 in. 



