The Sea-birds’ Nursery 
striking attitudes and positions. Many 
of them hold their wings out-stretched 
as if todry. This is just what they are 
doing. For they are cormorants, and 
have just come out of the sea, where 
they have been pursuing the fish 
under water, diving through the waves 
and chasing the active fish in their own 
element, where they are so much at 
home, and so well fitted to live. To 
enable the cormorants to perform such 
a difficult task as this, the bird is of 
course a very powerful one, with large 
feet, all the toes of which are provided 
with webs. A duck’s foot has only the 
three front toes thus connected ; the hind 
toe is small and useless, But all the 
cormorant’s four toes are connected with 
a strong web, and this gives it an in- 
creased power, which drives the bird 
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