THE COEMORAKT.l 



SHOOTING, 



[the cormorant. 



bringing down twenty. They are described as 

 very hard to kill. 



THE CORMORANT. 



The three varieties of the PeJicamis Corho, 

 known to sportsmen, are the crested, the black, 

 and the cole-goose. The common cormorant 

 weighs from four to seven pounds ; and the size 

 varies from about three feet to four feet six 

 inches in breadth. The bill, to the corners of the 

 mouth, measures four inches, and its ridge two- 

 and-three-quarters. It is of a dark horny 

 consistency, and the tip, or nail, of the upper 

 bill is considerably hooked and sharpened. 

 From the base of this it is furrowed on each 

 side, nearly to the top, without any visible ap- 

 pearance of nostrils. The lower bill is com- 

 pressed, and covered, about the gape of the 

 mouth, with a naked yellowish skin, extending 

 under the chin and throat, where it hangs 

 loose, and forms a kind of pouch, which, to- 

 gether with the springing blade on each side 

 forming its rim. is capable of great expansion, 

 and by it the bird is enabled to swallow prey 

 apparently too large to be admitted into its 

 throat. The skiu about the eye is naked, and 

 of the same colour as the pouch. The eyes, 

 which have a remarkably wild stare, are placed 

 near the bill. The crown of the head and neck 

 are black ; and on the hinder part of the former 

 the feathers appear elongated, and form a sort 

 of loose crest. In some species the throat is 

 white, with a kind of stripe passing from it, 

 upwards, behind each eye. In others the 

 cheeks and throat are mixed with brown and 

 white ; while, in other species, the head and 

 neck are streaked with scratches of the latter 

 colour. The middle of the belly is white, with 

 a patch of the same colour over each thigh. All 

 the under parts, however, together with the 

 back and rump, are commonly of a glossy blue- 

 black, with green shades. The shoulders, scapu- 

 lars, and wing-coverts, are of a bronze-brown 

 bue, tinged and glossed with green ; and each 

 feather ia bordered with shiuiug bluish-black. 

 The secondary quills are nearly of the same 

 colour. The coverts and primaries are dusky. 

 The tail consists of fourteen stiff feathers, which 

 look as if they were discoloured by being dipped 

 in mud or dirty water. The legs are thick, 

 and black, aud about two inches and a-half 

 long. 



584 



The cormorant is a native of almost every 

 climate. It abounds in large numbers in 

 Greenland and Nova Zambia, and parts adja- 

 cent ; and the natives have a curious method 

 of taking them, by means of lures or decoys. 

 They make use of the jugular pouch of the bird 

 for a bladder to float their fishiug-darts, after 

 they are thrown ; whilst their skins, which are 

 tough and leathery, are used for garments, and 

 their flesh for food. It is said, however, that 

 the eggs of the bird arc too foetid even to be 

 eaten by Greenlanders. 



These birds usually assemble in flocks, on 

 the summits and inaccessible parts of the 

 rocks which overhang or are surrounded by 

 the sea, upon which the female makes her nest 

 of the withered sea-tang, weeds, sticks, and 

 grasses, which are cast on shore by the waves. 

 She lays four or five greenish-white eggs, of 

 the size of those of a goose, but of a longer 

 shape. Many writers and naturalists assert 

 that, in some parts of the world, these birds 

 build their nests on trees, like the rook 

 aud the heron; others, again, forming their 

 opinions from the singular conformation of 

 the feet and the serrated claws, ascribe pro- 

 perties to them which they do not possess, 

 and maintain that they bold their prey in one 

 foot, w^hile, with the other, they push forward 

 to the shore, or carry it thither in the same 

 manner on the wing. This is, however, fancy, 

 unsupported by any evidence of fact. The 

 truth is, the feet of these birds are not adapted 

 for any such purposes. They are, like those 

 of all the expert diving tribes, placed far be- 

 hind; and while, by their position and the 

 powerful stroke from their broad webs, the 

 birds are able to pursue aud overtake their 

 prey, the hooked sharp-edged beak is the only 

 instrument they have fitted both to catch and 

 secure it, and there is no need to use the 

 awkward expedient of removing it afterwards 

 to the foot. 



At sea, or in the inland lakes, cormorants 

 prove themselves great gluttons. From the 

 loftiest heights they drop down upon the 

 object of pursuit, dive after it with the rapidity 

 of a dart, and, with an almost unerring cer- 

 tainty, seize it. They then emerge with the 

 fish across the bill, and, with a twirl, throw it 

 up into the air, and dexterously catch it as it 

 descends head foremost, and swallow it whole. 



