Birds of Massachusetts. 255 
pursue them. Mr. Cabot and others have found this 
bird in our State. 
The Cormorant, Phalacrocoraz carbo, is abundant 
in winter on the islands near Boston and the coast 
of Massachusetts, where most of them remain in 
autumn, winter, and the early part of spring. Nut- 
tall speaks of them as breeding on the islands, 
near the mouth of the harbor. They are never 
seen on fresh water, since they subsist entirely on 
fishes taken from the sea. In taking them, these 
birds are so expert, that a fish can hardly escape 
them; they swim under water with great rapidity, 
and almost always rise with their.prey in their 
bill. Ifthe fish is very large, they beat it to pieces 
on the shore; if they have caught it by the wrong 
end, they toss it in the air, and catch it by the 
head as it falls, so that the fins may present no 
obstacle to its passing down the throat. When 
thus employed, and when at rest, they are so con- 
stantly on their guard, that it is very difficult to 
approach them ; and if the gunner has succeeded 
in wounding one, it is useless for him to pursue, 
since both old and young sail under water, using 
their wings to propel and their tails to steer them, 
as in the air. But their safety is provided for, with- 
out exertion on their part, since their flesh is so 
poor, tough and fishy that, Audubon says, not even 
epicures:can eat them. 
The Dovsie-crestep Cormorant, Phalacrocoraz 
dilophus, which was first described by Richardson, 
