OOLOGIST'S EXCHANGE 



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T. VERNON WILSON, Austin, III. 



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JL Tame Cormorant. 



The Cormorant is very easily domesti- 

 cated, and when treated with kindness will 

 become excedingly docile, exhibiting a 

 very high degree of intelligence, and an 

 amount of affection scarcely to be expected 

 from a bird, which, in its wild state, is re- 

 markable for its extreme shyness of man. 



Some years ago a very young male was 

 taken from one of the IN orth Skerries and 

 brought to Halligarth, where he soon be- 

 came a most interesting pet. At first he 

 required careful feeding, for it was some 

 weeks before he became aware that open- 

 ing his bill was the necessary preliminary 

 to every meal. He would appear eager for 

 food, and, uttering the usual peculiar cry, 

 would strike at whatever was offered him, 

 but with his bill closed, and in this man- 

 ner would have starved but for human 

 aid. Afterwards he caused but little 

 trouble, for when the Ducks were fed he 

 would rush boldly in among them, and 

 appropriate anything in 1 he shape of fish 

 or flesh, that happened to suit his fancy, 

 but he never would eat salted food. 

 Sometimes, also, when he saw a boy com- 

 ing to the house with fish, he would way- 

 lay him, and, if no contributions were 

 then offered, he would speedily settle the 

 matter by helping himself. One day, when 

 food was scarce and he had been fasting 

 for many hours, I happened to pass by 

 carrying a number of Starlings, one of 

 which I tossed at him, but scarcely with 

 the expectation that it would be accepted. 

 However, he caught it cleverly before it 

 could reach the ground, and the next in- 

 stant it disappeared down his capacious 

 throat. Another followed, and was treated 

 in the same way; then more, until no less 

 than five had been thus disposed of. 

 This number seemed to satisfy him; and 

 the whole neck being now enormously dis- 

 tended, it was with difficulty that he wad- 

 dled away to his favorite corner of the 

 coal-shed, where I left him sitting, face to 

 the wall, upon a lump of coal, the legs of 

 the last Starling still projecting from the 

 corner of his mouth. After this a bird 



was always a favorite morsel, and he would 

 foUow me for a long distance when I hap- 

 pened to be carrying a gun. Once I gave 

 him, for a single meal, two Buntings, a 

 Twite, a Sparrow, two Snow Buntings and 

 a Binged Plover, and even then he followed 

 me for more. Birds, fish, and mice were 

 always swallowed head foremost, During 

 the first two years he kept almost entirely 

 to the ground, only occasionally sitting 

 upon a stone or low wall; but afterwards 

 the roof of the house was preferred, from 

 which elevated position he used suddenly 

 to pounce down, either to rob a fish-bas- 

 ket or to scatter a company of feeding 

 Ducks. But this was merely as a diver- 

 sion, not as a necessity; for from the time 

 of his first taking up his position on the 

 roof he also began regularly to procure 

 his own meals, flying to the voe for that 

 purpose, and often remaining there for an 

 hour or two, returning to his station by 

 the chimney. He never showed any desire 

 to escape, but, on the contrary, he became 

 more and more attached to his human 

 friends. Strangers who attempted to han- 

 dle him ran the risk of becoming acquaint- 

 ed with the sharpness of his mandibles, 

 and of being scared by the unearthly croak- 

 ing which always accompanied the bite. 

 Being one of his especial friends, I was 

 permitted to stroke him with impunity, 

 and he would fly several hundred yards to 

 meet me when I called him. The kitchen 

 fire was his great delight, and he would 

 bask near it for hours; but at such times 

 it was imprudent to leave either fish or 

 flesh within his reach. Once he carried off 

 a newly-skinned rabbit, and again, he 

 attacked a living Duck, and even suc- 

 ceded in swaUowing the head and part of 

 the neck before a rescue could be effected. 

 He would sometimes extend his explora- 

 tions beyond the kitchen, wandering 

 through the passages as if the house were 

 his own, but always betraying himself 

 with the loud flap, flap of his great webbed 

 feet upon the flags. For about the first 

 year of his life the iris of the eye was of a 

 brownish color, then it became pale bluish 

 green, and towards the end of the second 

 twelvemonth bright emerald green. Dur- 

 ing the third year he rapidly acquired his 

 adult plumage; but just as this was ap- 

 proaching its perfection he was unfortu- 

 tunately killed by an old half -blind dog, 

 which in former days had been celebrated 

 for its address in seizing and killing 

 wounded Cormorants.— Birds of Shetland. 



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