VOL. vm.] CORMORANTS IN NORFOLK. 141 



kept up these rhythmic movements for a considerable 

 time. A colony of Herons (whose breeding-place was on 

 the Cormorant island) also roosted in the same corner 

 of the wood and came in at dusk with loud discordant 

 cries. An owl hooted and Pheasants crowed, while scores 

 of Wood-Pigeons kept up a continuous undercurrent 

 of sound. Amid all these essentially woodland notes 

 the hoarse cries of the old Cormorants and creaking 

 notes of their offspring sounded curiously out of place. 

 As the shadows in the lake grew longer, a flock of Canada 

 Geese flew in and, with a swish and a swirl, aUghted on 

 the water. I was in my tent about 3 a.m. the following 

 morning (August 4th). The Cormorants awoke at 3.30, 

 and the five met on the lake where they swam about 

 for some time. The old birds then flew straight out to 

 sea while the young went back to the nest and awaited 

 their parents' return at 6 a.m. when they were fed. 

 During the whole of that morning they remained either 

 on the island or flew to adjacent trees, or else played 

 together on the lake. They were fed again at 12.30. 



I paid my final visits to the Cormorants on August 20th 

 and 21st. The tent had been in position since August 3rd, 

 and therefore I hoped all the birds were used to it. 

 When I reached the lake at 4.30 p.m. it was surrounded 

 by geese and ducks, but no Cormorants, though two 

 were circHng round the island. I neither saw nor heard 

 anything of them till 7.30, when a party of ten flew 

 steadily in from the sea and quietly settled down in the 

 trees. The four immature birds now all showed white 

 against a dark background. Some of them returned 

 to the nest as before, and others to the roosting-place 

 •with the Herons. Again, however, both parents sat bolt 

 upright on a branch, while their family went through 

 various aerial evolutions until dusk. But what were 

 the four strange birds, and why did they come ? On a 

 previous occasion (July 28th), while two nestlings 

 remained unfledged, six birds were observed " flying 

 high in the sky." Evidently the one pair of breeding 



