THE FEATHERED FISHERMAN, 



The cormorant is a strange and re- 

 markable bird, and is found in many 

 parts of the world. It is of large size 

 and somewhat resembles the goose and 

 the pelican. Its feet are webbed, and its 

 middle toe has notches like the teeth of 

 a saw, which help it to hold its prey. Its 

 plumage is generally dark, while the 

 feathers on its head and neck are jet 

 black. Its bill is long and straight, ex- 

 cept at the end, where the upper part 

 bends into a sharp hook. 



The cormorant is a great fisher, and it 

 is needless to say that it is only found 

 where fish are to be had, as it lives chiefly 

 upon them. It is a very greedy bird, and 

 will hover over the water for hours at a 

 time, catching and devouring fish until 

 it can swallow no more. Sometimes the 

 cormorant will play with its prey, let- 

 ting it go and diving after it several 

 times, but its victim never escapes in 

 the end. This bird has seldom been 

 known to miss its aim v/hen diving for 

 a fish. It drops from a great height when 

 descending upon its prey, and sometimes 

 it is seen to emerge from the water hold- 

 ing a fish by the tail, in which case it 

 cannot very well manage to swallow it, 

 so the fish is tossed up into the air and, 

 turning a complete som.ersault, comes 

 down head foremost into the bird's 

 mouth. The home of the cormorant is 

 among the steep ledges of rock by tlie 

 sea, where they build their nests and rear 

 their young. Their nests are made of 

 dry sticks, weeds and moss. The old 

 birds return each year to their old nests, 



repair themi and begin rearing another 

 brood. At night those having no broods 

 roost apart, standing erect in files upon 

 the top of some high ledge. The you'Ag 

 birds are of a livid color and present a 

 very unattractive appearance. Their legs 

 and feet are enormous and all out of 

 proportion to their little bodies. 



When leaving for the season cormor- 

 ants fly in long lines one after another. 

 In their wild state it is almost impossible 

 to get very near the cormorants when 

 they are fishing, as they are very cautious 

 and have many sentinels to warn them of 

 the approach of danger. 



In far-off China the cormorant is 

 tamed and put to a very curious and 

 practical use. When a Chinaman goes 

 fishing he does not take a rod and line, 

 as we do, but sets out in his boat and 

 takes some trained cormorants- along with 

 him. As soon as he comes to a place 

 where there are plenty of fish, the cor- 

 morants plunge into the water, catching 

 fish after fish, and, at their master's call, 

 dropping them in the bottom of the boat. 

 These birds are so greedy that if left to 

 themselves they would eat the fish as fast 

 as they caught them, so the cunning- 

 Chinaman ties a small piece of twine 

 around their necks so that they cannot 

 swallow it. In this w^ay he gets a 

 boatload of fish with very little trouble. 

 After the cormorants have finished their 

 work, the strings are untied and they are 

 allowed to fish for themselves. 



Walter Cummings Butterworth. 



A WINTER-PIECE AMONG THE PENTLANDS. 



A flock of fieldfares from, the leafless trees 



Flew chattering mournfully, while here and there 



A single redwing flung upon the breeze 

 A sigh that seem'd the utterance of despair. 



But on the burn, scarce half a mile below, 



The blufl: white-breasted ouzel from^ a rock 

 Pour'd his bold song — a huddling overflow 



Of mirth, those faint-heart winter-fowl tO' mock. 



— Henry Johnstone. 



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