192 



NATURAL HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



" Many are the ways used in this province for catching fish of all kinds in the 

 rivers, lakes, and canals; but none of them are more curious than the cormorant- 

 fishing, which may be seen everywhere about Ningpo. Certain places are noted for 

 the excellence of the birds which are bred and trained there ; amongst these we may 

 name Fenghan and Shaohsing. 



" The most celebrated place, however, is a small town called Tanghsichen, fifty li 

 northwest of Hangchow, the people of which are currently believed to possess a secret 

 in cormorant-rearing which gives them special success. 



" The cormorant's book name is Lu tzu, and the common name is Yu ying (' fish- 

 hawk'), or Yaya(- fish-crow'). 

 " The females lay early from 

 three to nine eggs, in the first 

 and eighth moons. The color 

 of the eggs is green, but it is 

 much covered with white 

 chalk; their size is that of 

 ducks' eggs. The white inside 

 is slightly green, and the eggs 

 are never eaten on account of 

 their strong flavor. 



"The eggs of the first sea- 

 son (first moon) are the only 

 ones retained for hatching. 

 Towai'ds the beginning of the 

 second moon they are given 

 to the hens to hatch, as the 

 female cormorant is a careless 

 mother. The young break 

 their shell after a month's 

 incubation. When new-born 

 they cannot stand on their 

 legs, and are very sensitive to 

 cold. They are therefore taken 

 away from the hen, placed in 

 baskets filled with cotton wool, 

 and kept in a warm place. 

 The eggs of the second season 

 are not used, the weather be- 

 ing too cold ; they are given away to children and beggars. 



" The young birds are at first fed with a mixture, in equal parts, of beancurd and 

 raw eel's flesh cut fine. If eels are not procurable, the flesh of the Hei yii (Ophio- 

 cephalus niger) is used instead, in the form of small pills. At the end of a month 

 the down begins to be covered by the larger feathers, and the quantity of fish-flesh 

 given to them is increased, while that of beancurd is reduced. A second month 

 elapses, and the young birds, having grown to double their original size, are fit for the 

 market ; a male fetches $1 or $2, and a female half as much. 



" The birds are now fed with young fish thrown to them. When they have 

 attained their full size, a string is tied to one leg, the other end of it being fastened to 



FIG. 92. Phalacrocorax perspicillatus, Pallas' cormorant. 



