CORMORANT 



Phalacrocorax car bo 



HE Cormorant is a common resident throughout Great Britain, 

 and breeds wherever a suitable locality is to be found ; most 

 of its breeding-stations are on rocky islands or cliffs on the 

 coast, but it has several well-known haunts far inland, where 

 it nests both on rocks and on trees. In winter it may 

 be seen on almost any part of our coasts, however low-lying, 

 and in many fresh-water lochs. 



The Cormorant is, as a rule, most partial to the sea, but may generally be 

 found wherever fish are to be obtained. It is most at home on the water, where 

 it swims and dives with great ease, using its wings as well under water as in 

 the air, and chasing its finny prey with great speed. Its flight is rapid, like that 

 of a duck, and it progresses through the air at a great pace, its long neck 

 stretched out and its feet extended beneath its tail. On land it is an ungainly 

 bird, and walks badly : it may often be seen sitting on some pinnacle of rock, 

 gorged with fish and half asleep, too wary, however, to allow itself to be 

 approached within gunshot. 



In the beginning of April the Cormorants return to their breeding haunts, 

 and begin to repair the damage done to their nests by the storms of winter ; 

 but eggs are seldom to be found before the beginning of May. 



At the Fame Islands the Cormorants breed all by themselves on a reef of 

 rocks some distance to the north of the main group of islands. During last 

 spring (1895) a heavy sea at high tide destroyed most of the nests just as the 

 birds were beginning to lay, and they migrated to one of the other islands well 

 out of reach of the waves. On a former visit, the birds allowed us to land on 

 the island without moving, but began to get uneasy as we got within eighty 

 yards of them ; so I hastily secured some photographs of them as they sat on 

 their nests, with their long necks stretched up in the air, uttering a chorus of 

 c 9 



