THE VORACITY OF THE CORMORANT. 



26 7 



in all parts of the globe, and always on the sea-coast or at the 

 mouths of rivers. They are excellent swimmers and clever divers, 

 pursuing with extraordinary rapidity the fish on which they feed. 



The Cormorant swallows its prey head first ; and if it happens 

 to catch it by the wrong end, it will throw it up in the air, and seize 

 it again in its bill as it descends in the proper position. When it 

 has caught an eel, a good half-hour sometimes elapses before it can 

 succeed in swallowing it. It may be seen making the most violent 

 efforts to swallow its prey ; and just at the moment when one 



Fig. 99. -Cormorant. 



would think that the slippery morsel was successfully absorbed, the 

 fish suddenly reappears again, still struggling to escape ; the Cor- 

 morant swallows it again ; the eel still resists, and increases its efforts 

 to escape ; worn out at last by its prolonged and useless efforts, the 

 victim is finally compelled to resign itself to fate. 



The appetite of the Cormorant is insatiable. The havoc which it 

 commits in rivers is very great, for the consumption of a single bird 

 in one day frequently amounts to six or eight pounds of fish, these it 

 pursues principally under water, for it is an expert diver and most 

 successful hunter. In consequence of the skill displayed by the 

 Cormorant in fishing, and the ease with which it is tamed, it is reared 



