COEMORANT. 5 



at last down it goes, and always head foremost. Fish are 

 its natural food, and those of the size of a herring or 

 mackarel it can swallow whole. One has been seen to carry 

 an eel it had caught to a rail it had previously been sitting 

 on, strike it with three or four hard blows against the rail, 

 and then after tossing it up into the air, catch it by the 

 head, and swallow it at once. Colonel Montagu says, 'If 

 by accident a large fish sticks in the gullet, it has the 

 power of inflating that part to its utmost, and while in that 

 state the head and neck are shaken violently, in order to 

 promote its passage.' He adds, speaking of a tame bird he 

 had, 'to a Gull with a piece of fish it will instantly give 

 chase: in this it seemed actuated with a desire to possess 

 the fish, for if the Gull had time to swallow it no resent- 

 ment was offered.' 



Meyer writes, 'When this bird is engaged in fishing, it 

 frequently swims with its head beneath the surface of the 

 water, in order, most probably, to overcome the difficulty, 

 caused by the ripple on its surface, of seeing its prey; (or 

 rather, in my opinion, to try to swallow some fish it has 

 already caught, and stretching out its neck to aid it in doing 

 so,) and from time to time it dives under to catch the fish, 

 which it can pursue for more than sixty or seventy yards 

 under water, before it is obliged to come up for air. 

 Several Cormorants may be seen at a time sitting side by 

 side on the water's edge, looking out for fish, and if they 

 are frightened, they rise up to a sufficient height in the air 

 to be out of gunshot. When this bird is met with at a 

 distance from the sea it frequently seems to lose its presence 

 of mind, and is easily approached and captured.' When 

 attacked at close quarters on its natural element, it defends 

 itself to the last with its strong bill, and is a formidable 

 antagonist. Meyer also asserts that the birds frequently 

 assist each other in killing the more unmanageable fishes, 

 but if so it must rather, I should think, be from a selfish 

 motive, and with a private end in view that they are thus 

 officious in being 'in at -the death:' I do not incline to think 

 that there is much disinterested generosity in the nature of 

 the Cormorant. 



The note of this species is harsh; a 'kree,' 'kraw,' or 'krell.' 

 The young ones have a querulous cry. 



The Cormorant naturally prefers an elevated sit' ation for 

 its nest, though in default of such it is obliged to put up 



