COMMON CORBIORANT, 375 



appear about the 16tli of June, and by tlie 20th of July were 

 almost entirely gone. Both sexes assume summer-plumage. 

 The female has the longest crest, and is the brightest in 

 colour, but is the smallest in size. A young Cormorant 

 brought to the Garden in the autumn of 1830, did not go 

 through any change during the summers of 1831 or 1832. 



Cormorants, when at their breeding-stations, seem to prefer 

 the higher parts of the rocks or cliffs, and many birds con- 

 gregate harmoniously together. They make a large nest, 

 composed of sticks, Avith a mass of sea-weed and long coarse 

 grass ; they lay four, five, and sometimes six eggs, which are 

 small compared to the size of the bird. The eggs are ob- 

 long, similar in shape at both ends, rough in texture ex- 

 ternally, of a chalky M'hite colour, varied with pale blue ; the 

 length two inches nine lines, by one inch and seven lines in 

 breadth. Mr. Selby says, " The young when first excluded 

 are blind, and covered with a bluish-black skin ; in the 

 course of a few days they acquire a thick covering of black 

 down, and are sufficiently fledged to take to the Avater, 

 though still unable to fly, in the space of three weeks or a 

 month.'' The old birds fly well, generally low over the sur- 

 face of the water ; they swim rapidly, and dive in perfection ; 

 their food is fish, which they appear to catch with great ease 

 and hold with certainty, by the sharp, hooked, horny point 

 of the upper mandible ; their dilatable throat enabling them 

 to swallow a large prey. When fishing they are frequently 

 observed to carry their heads under water, perhaps that 

 vision may not be interfered with by the ripple on the sur- 

 face. They are frequently seen sitting on posts, rails, or 

 leafless trees by the water side, when, if a fish should move 

 on the surface within their sight, it is pounced upon, and 

 caught to a certainty. An eel is a favourite morsel with him, 

 and a Cormorant has been seen to pick up an eel from the 

 mud, return to the rail he was previously sitting upon, strike 



