THE BIRDS OF BRECONSHIRE. 131 
The fishermen say that there are Cor- 
morants on the rock blind from age, 
and that they never leave the rock, but 
are fed by the younger birds; but I 
am assured by a naturalist, living at 
Aberystwith, who knows the rock well, 
that he has many times seen it without 
a single Cormorant on it. They also say 
that the younger birds conduct the blind 
old birds to the sea, which I think is 
more likely to be true. 
At the foot of the rock were two dead 
birds that seemed to have been shot 
when away, and to have flown home to 
die. There were also. several small 
rabbits feeding directly under the rock, of 
which the Cormorants seemed to take no 
notice. The nests, as far as I could see, 
never seemed to contain more than three 
birds, and these must be able to fly well 
before they could get from the rock to 
reach the sea, distant about four miles. 
I watched the busy scene for more 
than an hour, and left about half-past six, 
when fresh arrivals kept coming in from 
the sea in little strings of four, five, and 
six. 
I may add that of course it does 
