10 BLACK BIRDS. 



cause the bird to assume a more or less erect pos- 

 ture when standing ; bill long, straight, hooked at 

 end, brownish ; eyes green ; gular pouch yellow. 

 Resident. 



Eggs. — 8-5, rough, chalky -white outside, the 

 sub -surface being pale blue; 2'75 x 1*6 inches 

 (plate 122). 



Nest. — Of sticks, coarse grasses, and seaweed, 

 pyramidal in form, and placed on ledges of rock. 



Distribution. — General around our coasts. 



The Cormorant is somewhat duck-like in form, 

 but has a very long, slender bill and long, spi-eading 

 tail. The birds breed in colonies on cliffs or rocky 

 islands, though in some parts the nest is placed in a 

 tree near an inland lake. Occasionally frequenting 

 the seashore and mud flats, the Cormorant is usually 

 a deep-water feeder, and when floating on the water 

 the body is in large part submerged, only the top of 

 the back and the neck and head being visible. When 

 it dives, the Cormorant springs up and goes down 

 head foremost, remaining and travelling under water 

 for about half-a-minute ere rising to swallow any 

 fish it may have captured. It rises heavily from the 

 sea, but afterwards, with long, outstretched neck and 

 rapid wing-stroke, forges strongly ahead, generall}^ 

 flying low to the water. If there are more than one 

 bird, they proceed one behind another in close file. 

 The Cormorant has the habit of standing for long 

 periods motionless witli outspread wings, either on the 

 shore or on some solitary snag of rock in the sea. 



