26 



I noticed a few did not use, or hardly used, their wings under water, but 

 could easily secure the fish with a few strokes of the feet. The keeper 

 assured me that when first introduced the birds all used the wings when 

 swimming below the surface, but he thought they got nervous by strik- 

 ing their pinions against the glass, and soon found they could secure 

 their food without use of the wings. I have always maintained that 

 there is little use in observing captives in regard to habits. 



Selous says of Shags observed in caverns in the Shetland 

 Islands that the wings were not used at all, but were kept 

 closed all the time while he watched. 1 But Seebohm says of the 

 same species that it uses wings as well as feet to aid in the 

 chase. 2 Dixon says of Cormorants that "they seem to fly as 

 readily under the water as through the air." 3 



MacGillivray writes as follows of the Green Cormorant: 



On looking down [in a lighted cave] we saw them rapidly wending their 

 way under the water, flying with outspread wings, and not at all in the 

 manner represented by some, who say that this bird propels itself under 

 water by the feet and tail. Of this I am certain, having been an eye- 

 witness of the fact. 4 



Audubon refers to an account published in "The Naturalist," 

 regarding the under-water flight of the Dipper or Water Ouzel 

 of Europe, in which MacGillivray says that its actions under 

 water are precisely similar to those of divers, mergansers and 

 cormorants, which he had often watched from an eminence as 

 they pursued shoals of sand eels along the shores of the Hebri- 

 des. It flew, not using the wing from the carpal joint alone, 

 but extending it considerably and employing the whole extent 

 as if in air. 5 



Jordan, a lifelong observer of the habits of birds, remarks: 



The Cormorant uses its wings as well as its large paddles when diving. 6 



I 



Dr. Hatch, who lived in Minnesota at a time when Double- 

 crested Cormorants bred there locally in "innumerable num- 



1 Selous, Edward: The Bird Watcher in the Shetlands, 1905, p. 50. 



2 Seebohm, Henry: British Birds, Vol. Ill, 1885, p. 657. 



3 Dixon, Charles: Our Rarer Birds, 1888, p. 347. 



* MacGillivray, Wm.: British Birds, Vol. V, 1852, p. 396. 

 5 Audubon, John J.: Ornithological Biography, Vol. IV, 1830, p. 495. 



a A Son of the Marshes, [Jordan, Denhamj: Wild Fowl and Sea Fowl of Great Britain, 1895, 

 p. 304. 



