560 BIRDS OF SOMERSETSHIRE. 
larder. Dr. Saxby’s bird seems to have been the 
more omnivorous of the two, eating birds, fish, mice, 
raw meat, or almost anything that he could come 
across. Montagu, on the other hand, seems to have 
found some difficulty in keeping his bird alive when 
fish were scarce, and had at first to cram him with 
raw meat. Both of these birds seem to have been 
very fond of basking by the kitchen fire; but Dr. 
Saxby says it was at such times dangerous to leave 
either fish or flesh within reach of his bird, as once 
he carried off a newly-skinned rabbit. In a wild state 
the food of the Cormorant appears to consist almost 
entirely of fish. 
These birds collect in some considerable numbers 
at their breeding stations. ‘The nests are generally 
made high up on the cliffs and sometimes on trees, 
especially fir trees. Yarrell, in a note, mentions as 
many as eighty Cormorants’ nests being collected 
together in some high Scotch fir trees, at a place 
called Castle Martyr, in Scotland. The nest is 
generally made of sea-weed and long coarse grass. 
The Cormorant is not very easily approached 
in a boat on the open sea, nor when perched on a 
rock, unless some cover can be found, as he is gene- 
rally pretty wide awake and much more ready to 
save himself by flight than the Northern Diver. 
Except after a wounded bird I have never had such 
a chase as for a Northern Diver: I have, however, 
occasionally stalked up tolerably close to one when 
