CORMORANT. 



457 



direction tor vessels in harbours, rivers, and other 

 places. In some parts of Spain, it is customary to 

 line the walls of houses with cork, which renders 

 them warm, and prevents the admission of moisture. 

 The ancient Egyptians frequently made coffins of it. 

 On account of its lightness, cork is used for false 

 legs ; and from its being impervious to water, it is 

 sometimes placed between the soles of shoes to keep 

 out moisture. When burnt, it constitutes that light 

 black substance known by the name of Spanish black. 



In the cutting of corks for use, the only tool em- 

 ployed is a very broad, thin, and sharp knife ; and, 

 as the cork tends very much to blunt this, it is shar- 

 pened on a board by one whet or stroke, on each 

 side, after every cut, and now and then upon a com- 

 mon whetstone. The corks for bottles are cut 

 lengthwise of the bark, and consequently the pores 

 lie across. Bungs, and corks of large size, are cut 

 in a contrary direction : the pores in these are there- 

 fore downward a circumstance which renders them 

 much more defective in stopping out the air than the 

 others. The parings of cork are carefully kept, and 

 sold to the makers of Spanish black. 



CORMORANT (a corruption of the French words 

 corbeau marin) ; the trivial name of a genus of 

 aquatic birds included by Linne under pelecanus, but 

 properly removed thence by Brisson, to form a dis- 

 tinct genus, denominated phalacrocorax. This term 

 is indicated by Pliny, as being the Greek name for 

 the cormorant, though it is not employed by Aristo- 

 tle, who called the bird hydrocorax, or sea-crow, 

 whence the French name above mentioned. The 

 cormorants belong to the family totipalm.es of Cuvier, 

 steganopodes, Bonap. They are aquatic birds, hav- 

 ing the great toe united to the others by a common 

 membrane, and their feet are thus most admirably 

 adapted for swimming ; yet they are among the very 

 few web-footed birds capable of perching on the 

 .branches of trees, which they do with great ease and 

 security. The genus is distinguished by the following 

 characters : a moderate-sized, robust, thick, straight 

 and compressed bill, having the upper mandible 

 seamed, and rounded above, with the ridge distinct, 

 unguiculated and hooked at the point, which is 

 rather obtuse. The lower mandible is somewhat 

 shorter, truncated at tip, osseous throughout, and 

 furnished, at the base, with a small, naked, coria- 

 ceous membrane, which is continued on the throat. 

 The nostrils, opening in the furrows, are basal, la- 

 teral, linear, and scarcely visible ; the tongue is 

 cartilaginous, very short, carinated above, papillous 

 beneath and obtuse. The occiput is very protuber 

 ant ; the face and small pouch are naked ; the neck 

 is rather short, and of moderate strength ; the body 

 is compressed. The feet are short, robust, and 

 rather turned outwards ; the legs are wholly feather- 

 ed, and closely drawn towards the belly; the tarsus 

 is naked, one-third shorter than the outer toe, much 

 compressed and carinated before and behind. The 

 outer toe is the longest, and edged externally by a 

 small membrane ; the webbing membrane is broad, 

 full, and entire ; the hind toe is half as long as the 

 middle, and all are provided with moderate-sized, 

 curved, broad, bluntish nails, the middle one being 

 serrated on its inner edge, and equal to the others. 

 The wings are moderate and slender, with stiff' 

 quills, of which the second and third primaries are 

 longest ; the tail is rounded, and composed of twelve 

 to fourteen rigid feathers. 



About fifteen species of cormorant are at present 

 known, and are distributed over the whole world, 

 engaged in the same office, that of aiding to main- 

 tain the due balance of animal life, by consuming 

 vast numbers of the finny tribes. Like the pelicans, 

 to which they are closely allied in conformation and 



habits, the cormorants reside in considerable families 

 near the waters whence they obtain fish. It is 

 scarcely possible to imagine any animal better adapt- 

 ed to this mode of life, since they dive with great 

 force, and swim under water with such celerity that 

 few fish can escape them. When engaged in this 

 chase, they not only exert their broadly-rt ebbed feet, 

 but ply their wings like oars, to propel their bodies 

 forward, which, being thin and keel-shaped, offer the 

 least degree of resistance to the water. They swim 

 at all times low in the water, with little more than 

 the head above the surface, and, therefore, though 

 large birds, might easily be overlooked by one unac- 

 customed to their habits. Should a cormorant seize 

 a fish in any other way than by the head, he rises to 

 the surface, and, tossing the fish into the air, adroitly 

 catches it head foremost as it falls, so that the fins, 

 being properly laid at the fish's sides, cause no in- 

 jury to the throat of the bird. This precaution is 

 the more necessary, as the cormorants are very vo- 

 racious feeders, and are often found not only with 

 their stomachs crammed, but with a fish in the mouth 

 and throat, which remains until the material below 

 is digested, and is then passed into the stomach. 

 When standing on shore the cormorant appears to 

 very little advantage, l.oth on account of the propor- 

 tions of its head, neck, and body, and because of its 

 awkward manner of keeping itself erect, being un- 

 der the necessity of resting upon its rigid tail fea- 

 thers. But, mounted in air, these birds are of swift 

 and vigorous flight, and, when desirous of rest, alight 

 upon the brandies of tall trees or the summits of rocks, 

 where they delight to spread their wings and bask 

 for hours in the sun. They select similar situations 

 for building their nests, though sometimes they make 

 them upon the ground or among reeds, always rude- 

 ly and among coarse materials. In them they lay 

 three or four whitish eggs. 



That the services of birds, which are such excel- 

 lent fishers, should be desired by man, is by no means 

 surprising, and we are informed that the Chinese 

 have long trained cormorants to fish for them. This 

 training is begun by placing a ring upon the lower 

 part ofthe bird's neck, to prevent it from swallowing 

 its prey. After a time, the cormorant learns to de- 

 liver the fish to its master without having the ring 

 upon its neck. It is said to be a very interesting sight 

 to observe the fishing-boats, having but one or two 

 persons on board, and a considerable number of cor- 

 morants, which latter, at a signal given by their mas- 

 ter, plunge into the water, and soon return, bringing 

 a fish in their mouths, which is willingly relinquished. 

 The male and female resemble each other in size 

 and plumage ; but the young, especially when 

 about a year old, differ greatly from the adult birds. 

 They change their thick, close, black plumage, or 

 moult, twice a-year, acquiring additional ornaments 

 in winter. Four or five species of cormorants are 

 known to be inhabitants or occasional visitors of the 

 American continent ; but with the exception of P. 

 graculus, which is very common, and breeds in 

 Florida (though also abundant within the arctic 

 and antarctic circles), they are rather rare, and only 

 seen during winter in the United States. In some 

 parts of Europe frequented by species of the cormor- 

 ant, they commit great depredations upon the fish- 

 ponds, which are kept for the purpose of supplying 

 the tables of the proprietors ; and in Holland, they 

 are said to be especially troublesome in this way, 

 two or three of these greedy birds speedily clearing 

 a pond of all its finny inhabitants. From their 

 great voracity and entirely piscivorous regimen, it 

 will readily be inferred that their flesh promises very 

 little to gratify the epicure. It is so black, tough, 

 and rankiy fishy, that few persons venture upon it 



