Illlll 



148 



TOTIPALMATE SWIMMERS — STEGANOPODES. 



and thence northward, in wliich rogion it was seen roosting in flocks on the datc- 

 trcos. He thinks it was breeding near ^Manfloot. 



Mr. K. Swinhoe states that he found this Cormorant somewhat abundant on the 

 rocks about Formosa, and also in Southern China, during the winter. Early in the 

 spring it iissembled in flocks, and seemed to be moving southward. He also states 

 that birds of this species are tamed by the Chinese, and taught to catch fish for the 

 benefit of their owners. In this state of donu'stication they become subject to great 

 variations in their plumage. Mr. Swinhoe also found them common during tin- 

 winter at Amoy. They assembled there also in large flocks, prejjaratory to leaving 

 to pass the summer months elsewhere. Mr. H. Whitely mentions procuring two 

 examples of this species at Hakodadi, in Japan, in December. Messrs. Blakiston 

 and Vryer also speak (" Ibis,' 1878, p. 210) of seeing great numbers roosting in some 

 trees at IJabasaka, in tlie centre of Tokio. They were seen flying over that city to 

 their roosting-jdace in immense V-shaped lines, three, and even four, hundred yards 

 long. This species was also found far inland in Yariioto, on the mountain streaniK. 

 feeding on trout. It was seen on the coast of Yezo, and also at Yokohama. 



A single specimen was obtained by Captain Hutton (" Ibis," 1871) among the 

 Chatham Islands, about five hundred miles east of New Zealand. 



This species is not mentioned by Gosse as having been found in Jamaica, nor by 

 Dr. Gundlach as occurring in Cuba. Leotaud, however, states — but doubtless erro- 

 neously — that it is a migratory visitant of Trinidad, coming each year at the close 

 of July. 



In Great IJritain, according to Yarrell, this bird is known as the Great Cormorant, 

 or Black Cormorant ; and is there found in considerable numbers on the rocky i)or- 

 tions of the entire coast. For their breeding-stations they seem to prefer the higher 

 parts of rocky cliffs, where many individuals of this sj)ecies congregate harmoniously 

 togethei-. There they make large nests composed of sticks, with a mass of seaweed 

 and long coarse grass. They lay from four to six eggs, whii^h are small comi)ared 

 with the size of the bird. The eggs are oblong in shape, alike at both ends, rough 

 externally in texture, and of a chalk^'-white color, varied with ])ale blue ; they are 

 2.75 inches in length, and l.C'i inches in their breadth. Upon an island near Casth; 

 IMartyr, belonging to the Earl of Shaiuion, in Ireland, the nests of more than eighty 

 Cormorants are said to liave been counted in a single season, on Scotch fir-trees not 

 under sixty feet in height, where they securely raised their young. Kev. Dr. Lub- 

 bock also states that this bird in some seasons has been known to nest in trees near 

 Fritton, in Norfolk. Mr. ^lalherbe also states that it breeds in the marshes in 

 Sicily, in trees. This mode of nesting is probably abnormal, having been caused by 

 persecution. 



According to Selby, the young bird of this sjiecies, when first excluded, is blind. 

 and covered with a bluish-black skin. In a few days it acquires a thick covering of 

 black down, and in the space of tlu'ee weeks, though stili unable to fly, it is sufliciently 

 fledged to take to the water. 



The Cormorant flies with great rapidity and vigor, usually near the surface of tin 

 water. It can swim with great rapidity, and has no superior in diving. It can 

 catch its food — which consists of fish — with great ease, and Avhich it holds securely 

 with the sharp hooked horny points of its upper mandil)le. Its throat admits of beiiii,' 

 greatly dilated, so that it is able to swallow a fish of large size. It stations itself on 

 a post, a projecting rock, or a leafless branch near the water, in a position where its 

 powers of vision enable it to discover a passing fish, upon which it pounces with a 

 never-failing aim. 



