COMMON CORMORANT. 305 



generally in this country breeds on sea-clifFs ; but Mr. 

 Lubbock, in his ' Fauna ol: Norfolk' (p. 173-i), states 

 that formerly Cormorants nested on high trees round Fritton 

 decoy. In a note to p. 174, op. cit., he says that Cormo- 

 rants use the nests of the Heron. 



I visited Horster Meer in Holland, in the summer of 1882, 

 where, in that immense marsh, we saw the remains of many 

 Cormorants' nests of the last year, on the level ground, but, 

 the marsh being drained, the birds have now abandoned the 

 locality. Tlie nests, which were about one hundred and 

 fifty in number, built of sticks and twigs, were greatly decayed, 

 but still retained a distinct odour of guano. The spot was 

 slightly elevated above the marsh, and surrounded by coarse 

 herbage, especially a yellow woolly-leaved plant, I believe 

 Cineraria palustris, which was growing vigorously. The 

 Cormorant may occasionally be seen standing on a post or 

 pile, in the shallow water of the creeks. I saw a young 

 white-breasted specimen of this bird, on the sixth of Feb- 

 ruary 1841, Avhicli had just been shot, a short distance from 

 Slioreham Harbour, where it was considered a rare bird. 



The place now most frequented by the Cormorant in the 

 west of Sussex appears to be the estuary north of Thorney 

 Island, where, some twenty years since, an attempt was 

 made to enclose a large tract of mud land, which was for 

 some reason abandoned, but a part of the embankment still 

 remains, studded with piles, which, Mr. Jeffery informs me, 

 are a favourite resort of the Cormorant, and that from 

 twenty to thirty may sometimes be seen perched on their 

 tops. Mr. Knox (O. R. p. 250) mentions the small colony 

 established at Seaford Cliff, and that, in time of floods, the 

 birds occasionally visit the levels of the rivers. I have heard 

 of a Cormorant having, many years since, been observed on 

 the spire of Chichester Cathedral. Mr; Dennis tells me 

 that in the summer of 1811, he saw a Cormorant on a ledge 



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