556 PELECAXID^. 



their nest in a tree, but this is a rare occurrence. They 

 generally select exposed rocks, where they collect a large 

 quantity of sticks and rubbish, and lay three or four eggs 

 in a depression on the summit. 



Most people are familiar with a representation of a 

 fisht'.ry with the help of Cormorants conducted by the 

 Chinese ; but it is not so generally known that a similar 

 method was once practised in England : Willughby,* 

 quoting Faber's "Annotations on the Animals of Recchus," 

 says: "It is the custom in England to train Cormorants to 

 catch fish. While conveying the birds to the fishing-ground 

 the fishermen keep the heads and eyes of the birds covered 

 to prevent them from being alarmed. When they have 

 reached the rivers, they take off the hoods, and having first 

 tied a leather strap loosely round the lower part of the neck, 

 that the birds may be unable to swallow down what fishes 

 they catch, thi'ow them into the water. They immediately 

 set to work and pursue the fish beneath them with 

 marvellous rapidity. When they have caught one they 

 rise to the surface, and, having first pinched it with their 

 beaks, swallow it as far as" the strap permits, and renew 

 the chase until they have caught from five to six each. 

 On being called to return to their masters' fist, they obey 

 with alacrity, and bring up, one by one, the fish they have 

 swallowed, injured no farther than that they are slightly 

 crushed. The fishing being brought to an end, the birds 

 are removed froin the neighbourhood of the water, the 

 strap is untied, and a few of the captured fish, thro^vn to 

 them as their share of the booty, are dexterously caught 

 belbre the}^ touch the ground." 



* Ornithologia, 1676, p. 248. 



