232 cassell's book of birds. 



the air, flying at first with fluttering wings, but they soon sweep away, gliding straight forward to a 

 considerable distance, or rise upwards in circles high into the air ; the majority of them, however, 

 spring at once into the sea, like so many frogs. Here they instantly dive, and when they come up 

 again may be seen a considerable distance off, peering at the boat with their little green eyes and 

 ready to dive again, in an instant, should they think such a course conducive to their safety. The 

 Darters unquestionably swim and dive more dexterously, but it is questionable whether any other birds 

 can excel the Cormorants in this respect. They progress so rapidly under the water, that a boat 

 manned with strong rowers is unable to overtake them ; they dive likewise not only to a great distance, 

 but to a considerable depth, and when they come up, they simply take breath and at once dive again. 

 When chasing their prey beneath the surface they stretch their bodies quite straight, and by powerful 

 strokes of their feet, dart through the water with arrow-like swiftness. 



That these birds possess a good deal of intelligence is proved by the fact that in China great 

 numbers of tame Cormorants are taught to catch fish for the benefit of their owners. Fortune was 

 informed by one of these Chinese fishermen that the birds so employed are kept in a state of captivity 

 from the moment of their birth, and that the eggs from which they are obtained are incubated by 

 barn-door fowls. When old enough they are taken to the water-side, and there carefully taught to 

 obey their master's commands, and to bring to him the fishes that they procure. Upon inland waters 

 the presence of Cormorants is a very serious matter, seeing that they destroy the fish in incredible 

 quantities. Their voracity is almost beyond belief; a single Cormorant, when it can get them, will 

 eat as many fishes as a Pelican. Although Cormorants generally prefer to build their nests upon 

 trees, when these are not to be found they content themselves with cavities and projections among 

 rocks or places of a similar description. In inland situations, or where the woods come down almost 

 to the sea, they often make their appearance in rookeries and heronries, and after expelling the Rooks 

 with little trouble, and the Herons after long-contested battles, proceed to take possession of their 

 nests, to which they add a few materials of their own selection, and at once begin to lay their eggs. 

 Should they remain in undisturbed possession of the invaded locality for a year or two, they are 

 only to be got rid of with the greatest difficulty. In the year 1812, says Naumann, four pairs of 

 Cormorants made their appearance in Lutzenburg, not far from the sea-coast, and built their nests in 

 a wood upon a very high beech-tree, which had been for several years the resort of Rooks and Herons. 

 After driving away the Herons, whose nests they took possession of, they each proceeded to rear two 

 broods, one in May, the other in July, and when they left the place about the end of autumn, they 

 numbered about thirty individuals. In the spring of the following year, these repeated their visit, and 

 continued to return every year in still increasing numbers, until it was estimated that there were at 

 least 7,000 brooding pairs assembled in the neighbourhood. Boje counted fifty of their nests in a 

 single tree, the multitudes of them constantly flying to the sea and returning again seemed to fill the 

 air, and the noise they made was positively deafening ; the trees upon which they assembled were 

 white with filth, and the whole place stank in consequence of the quantities of putrid fishes fallen from 

 their nests. It was only after several years of unabated exertion that they were at length destroyed or 

 driven away. 



The Cormorants generally make their appearance in their breeding-places in April, and set about 

 preparing their nests with great zeal. Towards the end of the month, they lay three or four narrow 

 eggs, of a blueish green colour, but generally incrusted with calcareous deposit. The two sexes sit 

 by turns for about four weeks, and when the young are hatched feed them with indefatigable 

 perseverance. Being thus abundantly provided for, the nestlings grow rapidly ; the old birds behave 

 very affectionately towards their progeny, but when danger threatens will not stay to defend them, at 

 least from their human enemies. Whenever the old birds visit their nests, they are literally full to 





