NESTING-SERIES OF BRITISH BIRDS. 189 
vrass or heather on the borders of lakes or morasses. From eight to 
fourteen creamy-white or pale buff eggs are laid early in May. 
1.—Norfolk, May. 
Presented by Lord Walsingham. 
2.—Hertfordshire, May. 
Presented by the Hon. L. W. Rothschild. 
No. 142. WIGEON. (Mareca penelope.) 
A winter visitor to the British Islands, generally appearing on our 
coasts im vast numbers about the end of September or beginning of 
October, and remaining till March and April, when the majority return 
to the north. A considerable number remain to breed, principally 
about the lochs in the north of Scotland and, possibly, in Ireland. 
The nest, which is placed among rushes, coarse herbage, or heather, is 
thickly lined with down, and may contain from seven to ten cream- 
coloured eggs. 
Sutherlandshire, June. 
Presented by Colonel L. H. Irby & Captain S. G. Reid. 
No. 143. SHAG or GREEN CORMORANT. 
(Phalacrocorax graculus. ) 
This species is also known as the Crested Cormorant, on account of 
the curved tuft-hke crest which is assumed in the early spring and 
shed in May. ‘Though essentially marine and common along all 
the more rugged coasts of the British Islands, it occasionally wanders 
inland to freshwater lochs. It is an expert diver, and feeds principally 
on sea-fishes. The nest, formed of seaweed and other materials 
plastered together and emitting a horrible smell, is generally placed 
on a ledge of a cliff, and from three to five oblong eggs, with a pale 
blue undershell thickly encrusted with chalky white, are laid in May 
or sometimes earlier. The manner in which the young are fed is 
very remarkable. The parent bird having filled its gullet with fish, 
returns to its nest and, bending over the young, opens its bill to the 
fullest extent. The young, in turn, thrust the head and neck down 
the old bird’s throat and extract the partly digested food till the pouch 
is empty. 
South Wales, June. 
Presented by Lord Kensington. 
