^°'"^g'^'1 Stead, The Black Corm,orant in New Zealand. y^ 



edible meat. Therefore, in many of our streams a judicious 

 thinning out of the fish is entirely to be desired, and, seeing the 

 influence its food supply has on the size of a trout, I think that 

 with three times the amount of food it would very shortly treble 

 its weight. My grounds for this statement are the almost 

 incredible increases in size of the trout in our big snow rivers 

 immediately after the annual spring run of smelts and 

 silveries. 



I have heard that there is a marked deterioration both in size 

 and condition of the fish in Lake Rotorua, which is generally 

 ascribed to overstocking. The great danger that then exists is 

 that some disease will break out and entirely deplete our over- 

 stocked streams and lakes ; but to ensure that none but healthy 

 fish will reach maturity a colony of Shags is exactly what is 

 required. 



Once when staying with Mr. George Rhodes at Meadow Bank 

 I got up early and started down the Selwyn before daybreak. 

 When it was just dawn I saw nine Shags settle in a pool and 

 commence fishing. Within a few minutes a few more birds 

 arrived, making 13 in all. I put down my rod and basket, 

 and, creeping to the edge of the pool, I peered through the grass 

 on the bank. The birds were all at the top end of the pool, 

 diving in every direction. As I watched they came down stream 

 towards me, quartering the pool very carefully. It was a most 

 interesting sight, for they passed within a ^t\v yards of me, some 

 diving, some swimming with head and neck under water. 

 I could clearly see their bright-beaming green eyes, as they 

 came up gasping, and follow their glistening bodies as they 

 darted hither and thither under the surface. Down to the tail 

 end of the pool they worked, and here at last one of them 

 caught a fish, to be immediately set upon by several of the 

 others, who, grunting and gurgling, tried unsuccessfully to rob 

 him of his prey. I fancy it was a trout, though I did not see 

 clearly. Then one of the birds saw me, and the whole flock 

 rose and wheeled up stream. Three hours later, on my return 

 journey past the pool, I counted the waves of eight or ten small 

 trout as they rushed from the shallows into the deeper water. 

 This I think shows that a Shag does not readily catch a healthy 

 trout, but at the same time I feel sure that any eels or kelts in 

 that pool would have been caught. 



And now I will come to the question from a purely aesthetic 

 point of view. With many fishermen the joy derived from a 

 day's fishing is not to be gauged only by the bag they bring 

 home, but also by the number of interesting incidents with 

 which they meet during their tramp. The presence of bird life 

 along a stream lends fishing a delightful charm for the angler, 

 particularly if he is not getting over good sport. The little 

 Dottrel running swiftly along the stones, pausing every now and 



