FLORIDA CORMORANT. 393 



lake, they prefer diving to flying, swim with all but the neck and head 

 under water, in the manner of the Anhinga or Snake-bird, and easily 

 dive without shewing their backs. 



. They procure their food entirely by diving from the surface of the 

 water, never from on wing, as some compilers assert ; nay, the very form 

 of their bill, and the want of air-cells, such as plunging birds are usually 

 provided with, prevent them from darting from above into the water, as 

 is the habit of Gannets and other birds, which seek for food on wing, go 

 far out to sea, and stand gales such as the Cormorant, "which rarely ven- 

 ture out of sight of the shores, does not dare to encounter, or of those 

 which, like Gulls, pass swiftly in curved lines over the surface, picking 

 up their prey. On emerging, these Cormorants usually swallow their 

 prey if it has been so seized as to enable them to do so with ease ; if not, 

 they throw it up to a short distance in the air, receive it with open bill, 

 and gulp it head foremost. If the fish is large, they swim or fly to the 

 shore, or alight on a tree with it, and there beat and tear it to pieces, 

 after which they swallow it. Their appetite is scarcely satiable, and they 

 gorge themselves to the utmost at every convenient opportunity. 



The flight of this species is perhaps more rapid than that of the others 

 mentioned above, and is performed by continued flappings when the bird 

 is travelling, but by alternate flappings and sailings of great elegance 

 during the beginning of the breeding season, or when they collect in large 

 flocks in lowering weather, sometimes also when about to alight. Their 

 food consists chiefly of fish, and they generally prefer those of small 

 size. While on the Florida Keys, I procured five specimens of the Hip- 

 pocampus, fresh and uninjured, from the gullets of some of these Cor- 

 morants. They are hard to kill, and live to a great age. 



They are easily treated in captivity ; but their awkward movements 

 on the ground, where they often use the tail as a support, render them 

 less pleasing objects than other feathered pets. Besides, they eat and 

 mute inordinately, and instead of charming you with songs, utter no 

 sound excepting a grunt. Their flesh is dark, generally tough, and has 

 a rank fishy taste, which can suit the palate only of refined epicures, some 

 of whom I have heard pronounce it excellent. The Indians and Negroes 

 of the Floridas kill the young when nearly able to fly, and after skinning 

 them, salt them for food. I have seen them ofl^ered for sale in the New 

 Orleans market, the poorer people there maldng gombo soup of them. 



