140 



CORNER CORVUS. 



the old ones lose it in winter, we generally find the 

 shag 1 and the crested shag described in the books as 

 different species. There is, however, every proba- 

 bility that they are the same. 



Besides size and colour, the most remarkable 

 difference between the shag and the cormorant 

 consists in the number of feathers in the tail, which 

 are only twelve in the shag, and fourteen in the 

 cormorant. The tail of the shag is also larger, 

 more wedge-shaped in the general outline of the 

 end ; it is also more graduated (ctugee\ that is, the 

 ends of the feathers appear like a succession of steps, 

 as they do in the tail of the magpie. The size, as we 

 have said, varies, but the longest of them that have 

 been measured is about two feet six inches in length, 

 three feet eight inches in extent of wing, and weighs 

 nearly four pounds. The shag is very abundant in 

 the regions of the arctic circles, and* is a bird of 

 passage in the eastern countries of Europe. It has 

 much the appearance and manners of the preceding, 

 although the two species are not observed to consort. 

 But they are alike greedy and voracious, and after 

 having overgorged themselves, they are often found 

 on shore in a drowsy and torpid state ; but when the 

 torpor is over, they appear again on the water, where 

 they are extremely alert, and not easily shot, as they 

 dive the moment that they perceive the flash of a gun, 

 and take care afterwards to keep out of its reach. In 

 swimming they carry their head very erect, while the 

 body seems nearly submerged. From the circum- 

 stance of their feathers being not quite impervious to 

 water, they do not remain on that element very long 

 at a time, but are frequently seen flying about, or 

 sitting on the shore, flapping the moisture from their 

 wings, or keeping them for some time expanded, to 

 dry in the sun and the wind. They nestle in the 

 clifts of rocks, or in trees, the female laying two or 

 three whitish eggs, much elongated, and of nearly 

 equal dimensions at both ends 



P. Sinensis (the Chinese Cormorant). The tail of 

 this species consists of twelve feathers, like that of 

 the shag, and it is described as being intermediate 

 between that bird and the common cormorant. It is 

 blackish brown on the upper part, whitish, and 

 spotted with brown, beneath, and the throat white. 

 The irides are blue, the bill yellow, and the feet 

 blackish. This is the Leut-ze of the Chinese, who 

 instruct it in the art of supplying its owner with fish. 

 On a large lake, Sir George Staunton and his party 

 saw thousands of small boats and rafts, on each of 

 which were ten or a dozen of these birds, which, at a 

 signal from the owner, plunged into the water, and 

 returned with fish of a large size. 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 encourage- 

 ment and food. 



There are many species or varieties of cormorants 

 in different parts of the world, especially in the south, 

 but their habits are everywhere nearly the same. 



CORNER The cornel family. "A natural order 

 of dicotyledonous plants, containing five genera and 

 twenty-six known species. It is closely allied to 

 CaprifoliaceeE, and is by many botanists considered as 

 belonging to one of the sections of that order. It 

 differs, however, in its valvate aestivation, the number 

 of its stamens, its single style, its drupaceous fruit, and 

 its fleshy albumen. By the same characters it is dis- 



tinguished from the order IlamamclidctE, to which 

 also it bears an affinity. 



Its essential characters are : tube of the calyx 

 adnate with the ovary, limb four-lobed ; petals four, 

 oblong, broad at the base, inserted on the top of the 

 tube of the calyx, regular, with a valvate aestivation ; 

 stamens four, inserted along with the petals, and 

 alternate with them ; anthers ovato-oblong, two-celled ; 

 style filiform ; stigma simple ; drupe baccate, crowned 

 with the limb of the calyx ; seed pendulous and soli- 

 tary ; albumen fleshy. 



The plants belonging to the order arc : trees or 

 shrubs, rarely herbs, with opposite, entire or toothed 

 leaves, and capitate, umbellate, or corymbose flowers. 

 They are found both in the cold and warm regions of 

 Europe, Asia, and America. 



The genera of the order are : Cornm, Aucuba, &c. 



Cornux sanguined, wild cornel tree, dogwood, grows 

 commonly in Europe and in the northern parts of 

 Asia. It is likewise found native in Britain. It 

 bears greenish white flowers having an unpleasant 

 smell. Its berries arc of a dark purple colour, and 

 like every other part of the plant are very bitter. 

 An oil has been obtained from them which has been 

 used for lamps. The bark of the older branches is 

 dark-red, and the leaves assume this colour before 

 they fall. The wood is hard, and makes good mill- 

 cogs, bobbins for lace, tooth-picks, &c. It also 

 furnishes excellent charcoal which is used in the pre- 

 paration of gunpowder. 



Cornus florida, American or Virginian dogwood, 

 generally attains the height of twenty feet, with a 

 diameter of four or five inches. The flowers arc 

 small, of a yellowish colour, and are surrounded by a 

 large involucre, composed of four white floral leaves. 

 This involucre constitutes all the beauty of the 

 flowers. The wood of the tree is hard, compact ami 

 heavy, and is susceptible of a fine polish. It is used 

 by carpenters. The inner bark of this arid another 

 species, Cornus sericea, is bitter, and is often used in 

 North America as a tonic. In the United States, 

 these barks are frequently prescribed for the cure of 

 intermittent fevers. The young branches of the 

 former species, when stripped of their bark, and 

 rubbed with their ends against the teeth, render 

 them extremely white. A good scarlet colour is 

 obtained from the bark of the more fibrous roots. 



Cornvs Succica, dwarf-cornel, is found in Europe, 

 the northern regions of Asia, Kamtschatka, Greenland, 

 Lapland, and North America. It in also met with 

 abundantly in mountainous pastures in Scotland and 

 the North of England. It is a herbaceous plant, 

 from four to six inches high, bearing an umbel of 

 dark purple flowers. Its fruit has a red colour and a 

 sweetish taste, and is used in the Highlands to create 

 an appetite. The other genera of this order do not 

 require to be particularly noticed. 



CORVUS (Crow, or perhaps, in the more ex- 

 tended sense, Corvido!, the crow family), a very 

 numerous, widely extended, and well-known tribe of 

 birds, belonging to Cuvier's conirostral division of 

 Passeres, and in the natural classification, or that 

 which is founded upon the general habit in feeding, 

 and not the mere structure of the feeding apparatus, 

 to the order of Onimvora, or birds which are indis- 

 criminate in their food, subsisting upon animal or 

 vegetable matter, recent or putrid, according to 

 circumstances, and thus being fitted for inhabiting 

 almost every latitude on the face of the earth. 



