158 BIRDS. 



Mr. Watt says that with him Cormorants are numerous on 

 his (west) side of the Mainland, but that he has never, to his 

 knowledge, seen the Shag in the bay or about the Skaill rocks. 

 On the other hand, Mr. Irvine-Fortescue observes that, on 

 a visit to Copinsay in 1884, he only detected one Cormorant, 

 though Salmon found them breeding there in 1831. 



Buckley observed in Eousay that Cormorants were not 

 nearly so numerous as the Shags, neither did they mix 

 with those birds, nor herd together among themselves as does 

 the Shag, except when breeding. 



Mr. Moodie-Heddle says the Cormorant is called " Palmer " 

 in Orkney. He fancies this is from the white spot on the 

 thigh being like the shell worn by pilgrims. This spot he has 

 seen, in some cases, at all seasons of the year. During our 

 visit to Orkney in 1888, and while staying at Melsetter with 

 Mr. Moodie-Heddle, we noticed that Cormorants had a regular 

 line of flight from Longhope, on the one side of the island, to 

 their breeding-places on the other, which varied slightly, accord- 

 ing to the direction or strength of the wind. 



Cormorants are generally local in their breeding-places, and 

 their nests are, as a rule, higher up the cliffs than those of the 

 next species. There is a colony on a small stack at Costa 

 Head, when we could only detect one Shag on its nest, all the 

 rest being the larger kind. All the nests into which we could 

 see contained only three eggs. Many Cormorants were nesting 

 on Roithisholm, at the south end of Stronsay, and some of the 

 eggs we picked up on the top of the cliff, where they had been 

 carried by the crows, were evidently quite fresh this was on 

 July 4th; . . . other nests, again, contained young birds nearly 

 able to fly. 



There is an interesting Cormorantry on the Seal Skerry off 

 N. Ronaldsay which Harvie-Brown visited on July 2d, 1889, in 

 company with Mr. Norrie, who took some excellent photographs 

 of the birds on their nests ; they were very tame, and allowed 

 him to approach within a very few yards of them. 



The following is from the Field of April 22d, 1882 : 

 " Throughout Orkney accounts are being received of the tame- 

 ness of the common and crested Cormorants, owing to want of 



