'. 



PELECANID,*:. 



25! 



t th* Oermaos; Sbwr and Strand-Ram of the Norwegians ; Aalek 

 ng of UM DUM* : Skrfur of the Icelanders ; Mnlfran and Morfnin 

 of the Welsh ; Oorvoraot ul Cormonnt of the Kuglub. It is the 

 tVrw .4v<irinu of Gamer, Kay, and others; Ptltcamu Carbo of 

 PkaJamconx Carbo of Cutler and other* ; and Carbo 

 Meyer and others. 



Cormorant (WoAwooorajr Oirio). Adult msle, In spring plumagt. 







It has been a question how the English name of the bird should be 

 spelled, some preferring the form Corvorant, which is the form used 

 by Montagu, Latham, Pennant, and Dr. Cams, the last of whom 

 derives the word from 'corvus vorans.' Cormorant is considered a 

 corruption by those who elect this derivation. Milton. Ray, and 

 Willnghby wrote Cormorant, which is the form now generally used bv 

 British ornithologist*. 



The geographical distribution of this bird is very extensive. It is 

 an inhabitant of the New as well as the Old Continent. In the latter 

 is widely diffused. It is spread over a considerable portion of 

 Kurope, especially the north. It is a common bird in England 



The Cormorant swims very low in the water; even in the sea the 



body U deeply immersed, little more than the neck and head being 



ibove the surface. It is a most expert diver, pursuing the 



Bali which form its food with great activity under water. It is said 



9 be very fond of eels. It flies with the neck outstretched, and may 



often seen drying lU drenched plumage on the shore or on insulated 

 rocks. It perches on trees, where it is occasionally known to build its 

 nest, but it mostly selects rocky shores-and islands, selecting, according 

 to Selby, the summits, and not (like the Green Cormorant) the clefte 

 or ledges. Upon the Fern Islands its nest is composed entirely of a 

 mass of ses,weed. frequently heaped up to the height of two feet, in 



Jch are deposited from three to five eggs of a pale bluish-white, 



ha'tehed^u'te^aked andt y UDg> " " 7 " **' *' " When f ! r8 ' 

 black ; this in six or seven days becomes clothed witha thi^kllack 

 down, but the feathered plumage U not perfected in less than five or 



l*2!3?$r &&+.****+* th"""" 





" L Cormorant ett ormn blra cotnu. 

 Il.nunt I*, esux Unt doticn qne talfe*, 

 Cert tar pw qol rlri*re Mat piUw, 

 Et4esestanf> I'snnwl rerrau." 



Ito Toracity u indeed great, and the way in which it will dispose of 

 a large Osh, a plaloe f or insUnce, aided in a great me.^ar.bythe 

 power. <*">V-** u-jd dilatotion conferred o g n it by tn^para " 

 ' he "I** 11 " b / domesticated. 



QM canal, when t 



th. vicinity of the place 



submitted to Dr. Shaw, he has distinguished in the following terms : 

 ' Brown Pelican or Corvorant with white throat, the body whitish 

 beneath and spotted with brown ; the tail rounded ; the irides blue ; 

 the bill yellow/ " The bird, an undoubted Cormorant, is figured in 

 the ' Atlii", 1 pL 37, and a vignette at the end of the chapter shows two 

 Chinese fi.hermen carrying their light boat, around the gunnel of 

 which their cormorants are perched, by a pole, resting on their shoul- 

 ders between them. Sir George further says, " On a large lake close 

 to this part of the canal, and to the eastward of it, are thousands of 

 small boat* and rafts, built entirely for this species of fishery. On 

 each boat or raft are ten or a dozen birds, which at a signal from the 

 owner plunge into the water ; and it is astonishing to see the enor- 

 mous size of fish with which they return grasped between their bills. 

 They appeared to be so well trained that it did not require either ring 

 or cord about their throats to prevent them from swallowing any 

 portion of their prey, except what the master was pleased to return 

 to them for encouragement and food. The boat used by these fisher- 

 men is of a remarkably light make, and is often carried to the lake, 

 together with the fishing-birds, by the men who are there to be 

 supported by it." 



Belon gives an amusing account, in his quaint French, of the chase 

 of this bird during calms, especially in the neighbourhood of Venice, 

 the hunt being carried on in very light boats ("deux ou trois douzaines 

 de compagnie "), each of which, says he, being rowed by five or six 

 men, darts along the sea like the bolt from an 'arbalaste,' till the poor 

 cormorant, who is shot at with bows as soon as he puts his head above 

 water and cannot take flight, after diving to suffocation, is taken, quite 

 tired out by his pursuers. 



P. criftatiu (Cormoran Largup of Temminck ; Crested Corvorant of 

 Pennant; Shag or Green Cormorant of Gould). In the old bird in its 

 winter dress the whole plumage is of the most beautiful resplendent 

 and lustrous green ; upper part of the back, scapulars, and wing- and 

 tail-coverts of a fine bronze; each feather framed as it were by n 

 narrow band of beautiful velvety-black ; extremity of the wings not 

 reaching beyond the origin of the tail, which is short, rounded, and of 

 a dead black ; base of the bill and very small guttural pouch fine 

 yellow; bill brown; feet black; iris green. Length 2 feet 1 or 2 

 inches. 



At the commencement of the spring there rises on the middle of 

 the head, betwe.-n the eyes, a fine tuft of wide and outspread feathers, 

 about an inch and a half high, capable of erection, and which in that 

 state present a toupet, or large plume; on the occiput also are ten or 

 twelve rather long and subulate feathers. There are never any white 

 feathers on the neck nor on the thighs, as in the Great Cormorant 

 (last-mentioned species). 



Creited Cormorant irhalaerocorta erlttaliu). Adult, In Hummer plumage 

 (Gould.) 



The Young of the Year are distinguished from the young of all the 

 other species by their long and slender bill, their short tail, and the 

 wide lustrous borders which surround all the feathers of the mantle. 

 The colour of the upper parts is brown lightly shot with greenish ; 

 that of the lower parts is ashy-brown more or less whitish. 



The bill of this Hpccies is very slender, 2 inches 4 lines long, and 

 longer than the head. Tail very short, composed of twelve feathers. 

 (Temm.) 



It is probable that P. Detmarcttii is identical with P. crittattu. 



The habit* of P. crittatut are very similar to those of P. Carlo. 

 The nest is placed in clefts and on ledges of cliftn. Mr. Selby found 

 that it was composed of a mass of sea-weed, chiefly Puttu veticuloiui, 

 and that the eggi, four or five in number, were smaller than those of 

 P, Carbo, but similar to them in outward appearance. 



This bird is found in the whole of the north of Europe; it is very 

 common in Iceland, the Orkneys, Fcroe Inlands, Norway, and Sweden, 

 in the vicinity of great lakes. To these localities must be added the 



