Nest, &c, 
Food. 
448 NATAT. PHALACROCORAX. Cormorant. 
on living matter. In Britain, where it is numerous and 
widely dispersed, the Cormorant breeds upon rocky shores 
and islands, selecting the swmmits of the rocks for the situa- 
tion of the nest, and not (like the Green Cormorant) the 
clefts or ledges. In some countries it breeds upon trees, pos- 
sessing, as I have before observed, the power of grasping 
firmly with its feet. Upon the Fern Islands, its nest is com- 
posed entirely of a mass of sea-weed, frequently heaped up 
to the height of two feet, in which are deposited from three 
to five eggs, of a pale bluish-white, with a rough surface, 
from the unequal deposition of the calcareous matter. ‘The 
young, when first hatched, are quite naked and very ugly, 
s 
the skin being of a purplish-black ; this in six or seven days 
becomes clothed with a thick black down, but the feathered 
plumage is not perfected in less than five or six weeks. In- 
stinct, that powerful substitute for reason, is nowhere more 
beautifully exemplified than in the young of this bird; for 
I have repeatedly found, that, upon being thrown into the 
sea, even when scarcely half-fledged, they immediately plunge 
beneath the surface, and endeavour to escape by diving: 
This they will do to a great distance, using their imperfect 
wings, and pursuing their submarine flight in the same man- 
ner, and with almost as much effect, as their parents. When 
unfledged in the nest, the young of this and the following 
species, if alarmed by an approach, raise the head and neck 
to the full stretch, at the same time gaping wide, and vibrat- 
ing in a curious manner the loose skin of the neck and throat, 
accompanied by a constant and querulous cry. In winter, 
Cormorants are frequently seen in our rivers and lakes at a 
considerable distance from the sea, where they occasionally 
perch and roost i such trees as grow upon the immediate 
banks. They feed entirely on fish, which they obtain by ac- 
tive pursuit beneath the surface of the water, and having the 
gullet very large and dilatable, they are enabled to swallow 
those of considerable size. The prey is killed by being squeez- 
ed in their powerful and hooked bill, and always swallowed 
