324 PIlALACIiOCOKACIIl.K. 



the well known falconer, keeps trained Cormorants. Pennant relates that he had a cast of 

 Cormorants, one of which was presented to him hy Mr. Wood, Master of the Cormorants to 

 Charles I. When taken ont to hsli the birds ha\e a collar round their neck", which pre\ents 

 them swallowing the fish they catch ; when they have canf;ht a sufficient quantity, the collar is 

 taken off and they are allowed to hsh for theniseh es." 



Stomachs of lilack Cormorants examined obtained at liotany and Lake Narralieen, in the 

 nei}.;hbourhood of Sydney, contained more or less perfect specimens of various kinds of small 

 fish, as a rule rarely of more than one or two species, hut a very great number of them, 

 the stomachs being perfectly gorged with fish, consisting chiefly of young whiting, flounder, 

 bream, mullet, pilchards, garfish (minus their heads), and trexally. Those from inland waters 

 contained mostly young Murray Cod, perch, carp and eels. As all species of Cormorants 

 inhabiting .-Xustralia and Tasmania live almost exclusively on live fish of various kinds, with an 

 occasional frog, crustacean, or aquatic insect, according to the localities they frei]uent, no further 

 reference will lie made to their food. 



The nest, an open and nearly Hat structure, is formed of dead sticks, twigs, atjuatic herbage 

 and debris, and is either placed on a horizontal branch of a tree, or at other times on a ledge of 

 rock'. More often they breed in large companies, but isolated nests are sometimes found. 



From Copmanhurst, Upper Clarence Ivixer. New South Wales, Mr. George Savidge sends 

 me the following notes : — " The Black Cormorant (Phalaaoccrnx carlo) is sparingly dispersed 

 along the course of the main Clarence River, and is usually found in pairs or small flocks. 

 I have found their nests upon three occasions only ; in each case it was placed on a rock standing 

 well out in the river, and could only be reached by swimming. They breed in this locality 

 during May and June ; the nest is a large structure composed of rushes and acjuatic herbage, 

 and three and four eggs are laid for a sitting. The rocks in the \icinity of their nests are white 

 with excreta, and can lie seen a long way ofl. These birds seem ungainly and clumsy on 

 shore, and move about with a wobbling gait, but they have great powers of wing when once in 

 the air." 



In forwarding me a set of eggs for examination Afr. Savidge wrote as follows : — "The 

 set of three eggs of Phalacrocinax lavho were found opposite Gordon Hrook Station ; the nest was 

 placed on a rock standing out of the Upper Clarence River, and the black who took them 

 placed the eggs in his hat while he was swimming to the bank. The same bird built there 

 again, but floods came down and washed the nest away." 



The late Mr. K. H. Bennett writing from Mossgiel, New South Wales in 1S84, remarked: — 

 " Giacidus tdrho is rather plentiful here in seasons and localities suitable to its habits. It breeds 

 during the months of October and November, and the nest, composed of aquatic grasses is 

 placed on the dense flat top of a low Polygonum bush standing in the water, and although I 

 have on several occasions examined nests I have ne\er found more than one egg. Once 

 I found a nest of this species in possession of a Coot {I'uUm anstralis) in which were six Coot's 

 eggs and one of the Cormorant, the latter bird was sitting on the nest when I discovered it, and 

 slid quietly off and disappeared under the water as I approached the nest." 



From Melbourne, X'ictoria, Mr. G. A. Keartland sends me the following notes:— I have 

 seen the Black Cormorant (Phalacrocorax cuiiio) in every part of Australia I have visited. It is 

 ei]ually at home in fresh water or the sea. I saw one on the \'arra Ri\er capture an eel weighing 

 twenty ounces, which it brought to the surface after a dive and almost immediately swallowed. 

 I shot the bird and extracted the eel still alive. I have watched them catch bream in the Salt- 

 water River which appeared too large to swallow, but owing to the flexibility of its lower 

 mandible it accomplished the task easily. At Brookman Creek, North-western Australia, I saw 

 them catching frogs and yabbies in the shallow waters of the creek. It is surprising in what 



