212 BIRD-LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY. 



with basking Shags, each with wings raised 

 and outspread, birds at intervals arriving from and 

 departing to the surrounding sea ; and when the 

 flock has been disturbed it was most interesting 

 to watch the great mass of lumbering birds slowly 

 rise and fly out towards the open Channel. The 

 Cormorant is also a fairly common bird all along 

 the coast, repairing to the cliffs to breed. This 

 bird and its relative the Shag are the outcasts 

 of the sea-birds here, the two species to which 

 the Bird Protection Acts afford no safety, because 

 of their poaching tendencies about the estuaries 

 of the salmon rivers. The Cormorant, as a rule, 

 fishes in deeper water than the Shag ; anyway, 

 the latter species is by far the most frequently 

 seen below the cliffs diving for food close inshore. 

 The Cormorant becomes more numerous between 

 Hope's Nose the eastern headland of Tor Bay 

 and Exmouth. This species is a familiar one 

 to the railway passenger between Dawlish and 

 Teign mouth ; and often have we remarked a 

 company of Cormorants sitting on the summit 

 of that weather-beaten old rock pillar known 

 locally as "the Clerk," of which the traveller 

 catches hasty glimpses as the train dashes out 



