CORMORANTS 301 



and fishing- capabilities of cormorants generally. He was stand- 

 ing near a spot where one of the northern spurs of Mount 

 Murchison slopes down to the Buller River, which there forms 

 small falls and rapids. A cormorant was standing on an isolated 

 rock, round which the foaming waters dashed. By-and-by the 

 bird suddenly jumped into the white foam, to the great surprise 

 of the observer. "In the first instance," he says, "I thought 

 he would not get out again, but would be dashed to death by 

 the whirling waters ; but soon he re-appeared, swimming rapidly 

 towards the edge, and then fiying on to his old observatory to 

 continue his sport. It is probable that small fishes are taken down 

 by the falls, and, being stunned by the force of the water, are 

 easily caught by the courageous bird." 



New Zealand's cormorants afford a good field for a test of 

 current theories in regard to variation, and it will not be out of 

 place to treat the subject briefly in these pages. The intention is 

 not to make a close and formal investigation of the species, as 

 the extent of the present knowledge of the habits and changes of 

 plumage of the birds is not sufficient for the purpose, but merely 

 to give a slight sketch, showing the way to a more elaborate 

 study at some future time. 



Although everyone admits that the different kinds of animals 

 have had common ancestors, it is acknowledged that to draw up 

 a genealogical tree with any approach to accuracy would be a 

 very difficult task. No one, perhaps, can fully realise the great- 

 ness of the difficulty unless he has tried to reconstruct some 

 portion of the tree. The temptation to undertake the task, 

 however, is very strong, because, if we could trace out the history 

 of an order, of a family, or even of a genus, we should at once 

 obtain interesting information about the origin of variations. 

 The best plan is to find a group of animals in which all the 

 conditions of life are as simple as possible. By doing this, many 

 difficulties and uncertainties will be removed. Conditions are 

 simpler among the sea-birds than among the land-birds, and New 

 Zealand is particularly well adapted for the study of the former. 

 Therefore, our cormorants are specially well suited for this 

 investigation. 



