NESTING-SERIES OE BRITISH BIRDS. 53 



grass or heather on the borders of lakes or morasses. From eight to 

 fourteen creamy-white or pale buff eggs are laid early in May. 



].— Norfolk, May. 



Presented by Lord Walsingham, F.R.S. 



2. — Hertfordshire, May. 



Presented by Lord Rothschild, F.R.S. 



No. 142. WIGEON. (Mareca penelope.) 



A winter visitor to the British Islands, generally appearing on our 

 coasts in vast numbers about the end of September or beginning of 

 October, and remaining till March and April, when the majority return 

 to the north. A considerable number remain to breed, principally 

 about the lochs in the north of Scotland and, possibly, in Ireland. 

 The nest, which is placed among rushes, coarse herbage, or heather, is 

 thickly lined with down, and may contain from seven to ten cream- 

 coloured eggs. 



Sutherlandshire, June. 

 Presented by Colonel L. H. Irby fy Captain S. G. Reid. 



No. 143. SHAG or GREEN CORMORANT. 

 (Phalacrocorax graculus.) 



This species is also known as the Crested Cormorant, on account of 

 the curved tuft-like crest which is assumed in the early spring and 

 shed in May. Though essentially marine and common along all 

 the more rugged coasts of the British Islands, it occasionally wanders 

 inland to freshwater lochs. It is an expert diver, and feeds principally 

 on sea-fishes. The nest, formed of seaweed and other materials 

 plastered together and emitting a horrible smell, is generally placed 

 on a ledge of a cliff, and from three to five oblong eggs, with a pale 

 blue undershell thickly encrusted with chalky white, are laid in May 

 or sometimes earlier. The manner in which the young are' fed is 

 very remarkable. The parent bird having filled its gullet with fish, 

 returns to its nest and, bending over the young, opens its bill to the 

 fullest extent. The young, in turn, thrusts its head and neck down 

 the old bird's throat and extracts the partly digested food till the pouch 

 is empty. 



South Wales, June. 



Presented by Lord Kensington. 



