370 SWIMMERS. 



weed and lined with grass or leaves. Usually the nest is the accumu- 

 lation of years, and becomes a heap of twigs, rotten at the base and 

 surmounted by a layer of fresh herbage. 



Eggs. 2-6 (usually 3); white, with a rough, chalk-like surface, the 

 inside of the shell sea-green or pale blue ; size variable, average about 

 2.60 X 1 .60. 



The Cormorant, Phalacrocorax, or Bald Raven, of the Greeks, 

 like the Pelican, to which it is nearly related, is also a general 

 inhabitant of nearly every maritime part of the world, and even 

 extends its residence into the inclement regions of Greenland, 

 where, by following the openings of the great icy barriers of that 

 dreary region, it finds means to subsist and to fish throughout 

 the year. To the natives of this frigid climate it also proves 

 of singular service : its tough skin is used by them as gar- 

 ments, the pouch is employed as a bladder to float their fish- 

 ing-tackle, and the flesh, though coarse, is still acceptable to 

 those who can regale upon seal's and whale's blubber. 



These uncouth and gluttonous birds are plentiful on the 

 rocky shores of Great Britain, Holland, France, and Germany. 

 On the shores of the Caspian they are sometimes seen in vast 

 flocks, and are frequent on Lake Baikal. They inhabit China 

 and the coast of the Cape of Good Hope, and are common in 

 the Philippine Islands, New Holland, New Zealand, and other 

 neighboring regions. At Nootka Sound and in Kamtschatka 

 they have been observed by various navigators, and are found 

 in North America from Hudson Bay and Labrador to the 

 coasts of Carolina and Georgia. They are not, however, com- 

 mon in the central parts of the United States, though they 

 penetrate into the interior as far as the Missouri River. They 

 breed and are seen in the vicinity of Boston on bare and rocky 

 islands nearly throughout the year, and in all places appear 

 shy, retiring, and sedentary, enduring the most severe weather 

 with impunity, and only removing seaward or south in the 

 depth of winter for the purpose of acquiring food. Mr. Audu- 

 bon found them breeding on the ledges of almost inaccessible 

 rocks at Grand Menan isle, in the Bay of Fundy. They appear 

 very wary and shy, and feed their young with great assiduity, 

 whose voice at this time resembles the hissing of snakes. 



