212 SEA-BIRDS 



in the order in which they were laid. The young birds are therefore 

 of different sizes while in the nest, and it is usual for the first hatched, 

 by claiming the largest share of the food supply, to remain the largest 

 and strongest throughout the fledging period. In times of food shortage 

 the youngest may perish of hunger. H. F. Lewis (1929) found that the 

 young double-crested cormorants were given pebbles incidentally 

 with their fish food from the parental gullet; and they accumulated 

 large numbers in this way — 75 small pebbles weighing 46 grams in 

 one bird about three weeks old — because they could not get rid of 

 them until they had sufficient strength to regurgitate. 



The stench of a gannetry, cormorant or pelican colony is due to 

 the voidings of these birds, which subsist on large fish; but the young 

 bird, except during the first few days of its life when its excrement is 

 minute, is soon able to eject its waste matter to fall outside the nest- 

 cavity. This, and the pedestal shape of the nest, ensure a comparatively 

 dry and clean bed in stinking surroundings.* Lewis, testing the sense 

 of taste and smell in the double-crested cormorant, found that fish, 

 treated with strong liquids such as quassia and asafoetida, and also 

 stinking bad fish, were freely eaten. 



Lewis considers that cormorants are intelligent and can become 

 fond of their human owner. Alan-o'-war birds are easily tamed. 

 Gurney remarks on the affectionate disposition of the gannet, both in 

 captivity and towards its mate. A friend tells us that a gannet became 

 so tame in captivity that it used to delight in rubbing its neck against 

 her legs, and liked to be taken in her arms, when it would press its 

 head against her neck. Shaking and rubbing movements of the head 

 are characteristic of the emotional ceremonies at the nesting-ground. 



Haverschmidt suggests that European cormorants may raise more 

 than one brood in the season. Eggs may be found from February to 

 August in southern Britain and the Channel Islands, and all the year 

 round in the tropics. Young cormorants and shags certainly mature 

 rapidly and are able to fly well at six weeks old when, although some- 

 what neglected by their parents, they do not appear altogether 

 deserted. Turner (1914) records how the adults accompanied their 

 young back to the nest 18 days after they had been fledged; these 

 young cormorants were born in a tree-nest, and were observed play- 

 fully pulling off leaves, dropping them outside the nest and then 

 watching them flutter out of sight, as if idly curious. 



*The booby, Sula dactylatra, nesting on arid tropical cliffs, makes no nest, but squirts 

 its faeces in a circle clear of the centre. The hot sun immediately dries the waste matter. 



