202 CHAPTERS ON THE NATURAL HISTORY 



surface of the water. In former times fishing with cormorants 

 was a favorite pastime in England, and in China is still followed 

 in a manner that it there has been, in that country, for many gen- 

 erations. The birds are kept in confinement or are so far domesti- 

 cated as not to require restraint of any kind. They are seen 

 perched upon the prows of the river-boats, and when in use their 

 masters buckle a ring around the neck of the bird in order to pre- 

 vent deglutition, then the fishes it captures are taken away from 

 it upon its coming up to the boat. The signal for the bird to com- 

 mence is announced by the boatman striking the water with his 

 oar. Fish after fish is taken until the master is satisfied, where- 

 upon the cervical ring is removed and the birds are allowed to 

 satisfy their ow y n demands. In nature they frequently gorge 

 themselves to the very verge of gluttonous inebriety; then repair- 

 ing to the crags of rarely frequented rocks and cliffs, dose away, 

 safe from the disturbance of their enemies, until digestion over, 

 they once more seek the fishing-grounds. 



Thirty or forty species of cormorants are found in various 

 parts of the world, but although varying not a little in size, plu- 

 mage, and to a lesser degree in structure, their habits are much 

 the same wherever we find them in nature. Many excellent ac- 

 counts have been published in regard to them, and considerable 

 attention been given to their anatomy. 



The Men-o'-War birds I have seen upon a great many occasions 

 in the harbors of Havana, Matanzas, and Cardenas, upon the 

 north coast of Cuba, as well as at points around the entire coast 

 line of the Gulf of Mexico. In the matter of oceanic, open-air 

 flight they are hardly without a rival. On the ground they are 

 as clumsy as a Kingfisher, and for much the same reason, as their 

 feet and legs are aborted to an extraordinary degree. Tn body, 

 too. speaking comparatively, they are likewise small, but their 

 immense expanse of wing and long, forked tails give them pecu- 

 liar powers of buoyancy in the air. From tip to tip of wing they 

 have an expanse equal to that of a swan, but with a trunk no 

 bigger than that of a large jaeger. Often I have seen them sail- 

 ing, like so many turkey buzzards, high above the surface of the 

 ocean, and this usually after feeding. When the latter time ar- 

 rives, however, their habits are entirely different, for it is then 

 that the Frigate-birds displav their very tyrannical dispositions, 

 and as in the case of the White-headed eagle, they are the rob- 

 bers of all the boobies and gulls in the neighborhood, as is the 



