i68 British Birds, with their Nests and Eggs 



l-amily—PHALACROCOKACID.'E. 



The Shag. 



Phalacrocorax graciihis, Linn. 



THE Shag, which is a considerably smaller bird than the Cormorant, has a 

 much more restricted geographical distribution. It may be said, generall}', 

 to occur in Iceland and the Faeroes, and, with the exception of those of the 

 Baltic, all round the coasts and Islands of Western Europe, especiall}^ where they 

 are rock3\ It occurs in eastern Morocco, along the northern shores of the 

 Mediterranean, and on the coasts of Asia Minor, but it rarely makes its appearance 

 in the Black Sea. 



In the United Kingdom, it is specially numerous in the Orkne3-s, on the 

 western shores and islands of Scotland, and in the Hebrides. In the Isle of 

 ]\Ian, the Channel Islands, and the Fame Islands, the Shag is found in large 

 numbers. On the English mainland it is abundant on the rock}^ coasts of 

 Northumberland and Durham ; but it is absent from, or rare on, the south 

 coasts of England. In Ireland, it is found round all the coasts, especially on 

 the rocky and cave-indented cliffs of its northern shores. 



The Shag is trul}- a marine species, keeping to the sea coast, being very 

 rarely seen far inland, or by fresh water lakes, or even rock}- and fish-abounding 

 rivers. It is not so gregarious a bird as the Cormorant, and its colonies, where 

 it is a permanent resident, are smaller ; it is much more local also in its distri- 

 bution, occurring here and absent there, for no apparent reason. The haunts of 

 its choice, are the caves and fissures of rock}- headlands, and unfrequented islands, 

 on whose ledges it loves to sit and to nest. 



Though very similar in general appearance and in habits to the Cormorant, 

 it is easil}- distinguished by its smaller size and its shorter wings. The bare skin 

 of the face is rich yellow ; the &y&s are sparkling bronze green ; and the general 

 colour of the plumage is dark, and of a rich glossy bronze and green, richer 

 on the head and neck than elsewhere. This rich gloss, however, fades rapidly 

 from the plumage after death. The margins of the back feathers are deep velvet}^ 

 black ; and the tail has twelve feathers in place of fourteen, as in the Cormorant. 

 In the breeding season, while it does not assume white filamentar}' plumes on the 



