The Wintry Shore. igi 



sentinel on guard ; looking for all the world like some 

 spirit of evil, meditating mischief. 



It is a dexterous diver in pursuit of fish, and after 

 long -continued immersion remaining under water 

 sometimes as long as fifty seconds its feathers become 

 so drenched that it cannot fly. It will then stand 

 erect upon some favourite station with its great wings 

 spread wide to dry in the sun, looking at once weird 

 and gigantic in a failing light. 



A cormorant which was fired at while thus standing 

 at ease disgorged a dozen good-sized fish before it 

 succumbed to a second shot. 



This habit of lightening itself for quicker escape 

 has probably given rise to the strange idea about the 

 bird's powers of rapid digestion. ' A shag,' said a 

 Cornish fisherman, ' is a very quare bird. If you 

 see one swallow a fish, and shoot him, and open 

 him, the fish is gone. A shag, you see, is so hot 

 inside.' 



When a cormorant is fired at, the whole flock will 

 sometimes fall into the sea as if shot ; but on rowing 

 to the place to pick up his booty, the astonished sports- 

 man will very probably see half a dozen black heads 

 just showing above the water where the birds are 

 swimming for dear life. In confinement the bird 

 becomes very tame, and often much attached to its 

 master. Many stories are told of the boldness and 

 rapacity of such captives. One attacked a pointer so 

 fiercely that the dog died of its wounds. Another 



