74 THE CORMORANT— THE SOLAND GOOSE. 



THE CORMORANT 



Is another species of the pelican, about the size of a Muscovy 

 duck. It is chiefly remarkable for its indefatigable nature, and 

 its dexterity in catching fish, for which purpose it is in some 

 countries, and particularly in many parts of China, brought up 

 tame, and regularly employed. " It is very pleasant," says a 

 judicious writer, " to behold with what sagacity they portion out 

 the lake or the canal where they are on duty. When they have 

 found their prey, they seize it by the middle with their beak, 

 and carry it without fail to their master. When the fish is too 

 large, they give each other mutual assistance : one seizes it by 

 the head, and another by the tail, and in this manner they carry 

 it together to the boat. They have always, while they fish, a 

 string fastened round their throats, to hinder them from devour- 

 ing their prey. There are some other species of the pelican, 

 which, for brevity's sake, we shall omit ; those described being 

 the most remarkable. 



THE SOLAND GOOSE 



Is about the size of a tame goose, but its wings are much 

 longer, their expansion being not less than six feet. Its colour 

 is chiefly white, and it has a pouch resembling that of the 

 pelican, and of a size sufficient to contain five or six herrings, 

 which, in the breeding season, it carries at once to its mate, or 

 its young. 



These birds, subsisting entirely on fish, always resort to those 

 unfrequented shores or unknown islands, where they can find 

 abundance of food without being disturbed by the intrusion of 

 man. The islands on the coasts of Scotland, Ireland, and Nor- 

 way, appear to be the great rendezvous of these birds. On the 

 Bass island, in the Frith of Edinburgh, they swarm in such 

 abundance, that, according to a modern author, " it is scarcely 

 possible to walk without treading on them : the flocks on the 

 wing are so numerous, as to darken the air like a cloud ; and 

 their noise is such, that one cannot without difficulty be heard 

 by the person who is next to him." And we find, by the ac- 

 counts of navigators, that they are scarcely less numerous in 

 many other parts of the world. 



The soland goose is migratory, but does not remove to coun- 

 tries far remote ; and its migration appears to be determined 

 by the course of the annual shoals of herrings, rather than by 

 any circumstances of climate. It lays but one egg; and its 

 young is reckoned a great delicacy, and sold at a high price. 



