26 TALKS ABOUT BIRDS 



are very common in India, and it is quite easy 

 to get them very young and unfledged, while 

 they are easier to rear than any other young 

 birds I know, so that there is no difficulty in 

 beginning their education early in their lives, 

 which, of course, makes a lot of difference. 



Birds can be trained not only for amusing 

 people, but to perform real services, as I said 

 at first ; and of these the most wonderful 

 are the Chinese fishing cormorants, which 

 earn their masters a living as well as them- 

 selves. These cormorants are bred and reared 

 in confinement, but they do not bring up 

 their own young, for their eggs are taken 

 from them and put under hens. Then the 

 little cormorants have to be reared by hand, 

 for, although the cormorant is a water-bird 

 like the duck, the young ones do not take 

 to the water at once and look for their food 

 like ducklings, but remain helpless in the nest 

 till they are full-grown, like young pigeons. 



When they are fit to learn fishing they 

 are put into training, and they become almost 

 as docile and intelligent as dogs. They go into 

 the water at the word of command, dive for 

 fish, and when they have got one, come with 



