CORK 



1583 



CORMORANT 



receive an average daily wage of about sixty- 

 seven cents, are employed in the cork industry. 

 The United States imports raw cork valued 

 at about $3,150,000, and manufactured products 

 valued at about $2,350,000. There are about 

 sixty cork factories in the United States, lo- 

 cated in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, 

 Illinois, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Wis- 

 consin and Ohio. The value of the manufac- 

 tured products is usually in excess of $6,000,000 

 a year. W.F.Z-. 



CORK, the most important city in the south 

 of Ireland, capital of the county of the same 

 name. It is situated on both banks of the 

 River Lee, 165 miles south of Dublin. The 

 river is navigable from the sea for a few miles 

 above the city, and great sums of money have 

 been spent in harbor and dock improvements. 

 Eleven miles distant, at the mouth of the river, 

 is the port of Queenstown, at which Atlantic 

 steamships call on the voyage between English 

 and American ports. The name is derived 

 from the old Irish word Corroch, meaning 

 swamp, in reference to the nature of the land 

 on which the city is built. It has large iron 

 foundries, shipbuilding yards and manufactories 

 of leather, paper, woolen and linen goods. In 

 the latter it excels. 



During the war between Charles I and Crom- 

 well's hosts, Cork strongly supported King 

 Charles. It was captured and its people were 

 severely punished by Cromwell. To the present 

 day the Irish of Cork and vicinity refer to 

 him with bitterness. Most of the inhabitants 

 are Roman Catholics. Cork is a great strong- 

 hold of the adherents to the principle of Home 

 Rule for Ireland, and its people materially 

 assisted in obtaining the passage of that meas- 

 ure by the British House of Commons. The 

 city presents a fine appearance, and its suburbs 

 contain many fine residences. Population in 

 1911, 76,632. 



CORM, kawrm, that part of certain plants 

 like the crocus, cyclamen and Indian turnip 

 which is often incorrectly called the bulb or 

 tuber. The difference between the corm and 

 bulb is so slight that it is usually only the 

 scientist who marks the distinction. The corm 

 stores food for the next year's plant in a thick, 

 fleshy stem, whereas the bulb's food is stored 

 in thickened leaves, the tuber in a thickened 

 rootstock. Like some bulbs, the corm has 

 sheaths or broad scales on the outside, but the 

 principal part is the stem. Most corms are 

 broader than they are high. See the article 

 BULB, page 989. 



CORMORANT, kawr'morant, a large, greedy, 

 web-footed bird, about twenty-five known spe- 

 cies of which are distributed all over the world. 

 They live especially on sea coasts, but are 

 often found inland. At least eight species of 

 cormorants live in 

 North America, and 



THE CORMORANT 



the double-crested species, when breeding in 

 large masses on the ledges of cliffs along the 

 sea, present an interesting sight. Especially 

 in the Bay of Fundy they have been seen by 

 the hundreds; there, standing almost erect, 

 resting on their tails, they have been likened 

 to "rows of black bottles stood out to dry," as 

 many voyagers have remarked. 



The cormorant is related to the pelican 

 (which see). It is over thirty inches in length, 

 has a long, strongly-hooked bill, a long neck, 

 short wings and a short, rounded tail. The 

 common cormorant is black, or dark-colored. 

 The double-crested species has bronze-tinted 

 plumage, and a crest of black, curved feathers 

 behind each eye. The pouchlike throat is 

 orange. 



The food of cormorants is fish, for which 

 they dive. They have been known to stay 

 under water a long time pursuing their prey, 

 using both feet and wings for swimming. 

 Usually this bird with enormous appetite flies 

 close above the water watching for fish, but 

 sometimes it waits, perching on an overhanging 

 branch of a tree. That habit inspired Milton 

 in his Paradise Lost to liken Satan to this 

 hungry bird, saying 



"Thence up he flew, and on the tree of life, 

 The middle tree, and highest there that grew, 

 Sat like a cormorant." 



Cormorants have been trained to catch fish 

 for their masters. Especially the Chinese, with 

 their great fondness for fish, use the bird for 

 this task, which they cannot perform as well. 

 A piece of hemp is tied about the neck of the 

 bird so that it cannot swallow the fish, and it 

 obediently swims back to the boat and delivers 

 its catch to its master. 



