352 SHAG, OR GREEN CORMORANT. 



Westward of Iceland the Shag has not yet been found, and, 

 although it is common in the Faeroes and on the coast of Norway, 

 it is scarcely known to enter the Baltic, and is rare on the German 

 shores of the North Sea. It breeds in the Channel Islands, and along 

 the north-west and west coasts of France ; also on the Atlantic 

 coast of Spain, Portugal, and Morocco ; while a somewhat brighter 

 form, found throughout the Mediterranean and known as P. des- 

 inaresti, does not appear to me to be distinct. 



The nest, formed of sea-weed and grass, matted and plastered 

 together and emitting a horribly foetid smell, is often placed in cliffs 

 or among fallen rocks and large boulders ; but frequently it is on 

 a ledge near the roof of a cave, and so far in that the sitting bird 

 can scarcely be discerned amidst the gloom and spray-mist. The 

 eggs — like those of the Cormorant in colour and texture, but 

 smaller, and more variable in shape — are from 3-5 in number, and 

 are usually laid during May ; though Mr. Ussher has found young 

 birds as early as the nth of that month. The nestlings, at first 

 bare and purplish-black in colour, are afterwards partially covered 

 with down of a browner black than that of the young Cormorant ; 

 the mode of feeding is identical in the two species. The Shag 

 lives principally upon sea-fish, for which it dives by making a spring 

 out of the water ; and it has the power of descending to a consider- 

 able depth, for it has been caught in a crab-pot fixed at twenty 

 fathoms below the surface. Macgillivray states that in deep water 

 he has frequently seen Shags rapidly wending their way beneath a 

 boat by the aid of their outspread wings as well as their feet, and 

 such is also my experience ; but in tanks or small ponds, to which 

 the observations of some authors have been restricted, the move- 

 ments of the bird would naturally be different. 



In the adult the bill is black, the base of the under mandible 

 chrome-yellow, and the naked skin about the gape black, thickly 

 studded with small round yellow spots ; the irides are green ; the 

 forehead bears a crest curved forward, assumed very early in 

 spring and lost by the end of May ; the crown, neck, and under 

 parts are rich dark green with purple and bronze reflections ; feathers 

 of the mantle dark green with blackish margins ; quills and the 

 twelve tail-feathers black, as are also the legs, toes, and their mem- 

 branes. Length 27 in. ; wing 1075 in. The sexes are alike in 

 plumage. The young bird has a very slender bill, with yellow lower 

 mandible ; the upper parts brown, tinged with green ; the under 

 surface brownish-ash, mottled with brown. 



