the temporary visits of several hundreds of these feathered poachers where the fishing is sup- 

 posed to be 'preserved.' In the autumn of 1870, after the young birds had left the district, I 

 counted nearly fifty groups of these gaunt creatures on the coast between the point below 

 Sinniness and the village of Port William, a distance of eight or ten miles ; there were from 

 fifteen to twenty in each company ; and in some instances the birds were sitting drying their 

 wings within thirty yards of the public road. I saw no Green Cormorants among them ; nor 

 could I discern a single bird of either species on the water, all being in a state of rest. A very 

 large proportion of these Cormorants appeared to be birds of the year ; but 1 could not learn 

 with certainty where they had been bred. From their extraordinary numbers within a com- 

 paratively limited space, it was evident that they had located themselves on a good fishing- 

 ground. Several times I observed two or three birds rise together as I drove along the road 

 which skirts the shore, and, after attaining to a considerable height, steer in a straight line 

 across the hills ; and I concluded they were flying to some favourite inland roosting-place. On 

 the Ayrshire coast there are several breeding-stations on the line of rocks overhanging the sea 

 between Ballantrae and the entrance to Loch Ryan. The colonies which occupy these nesting- 

 places are very conspicuous when viewed at sea. 



" In the Outer Hebrides the common Cormorant is much less numerous than on the south- 

 western mainland, its place there being to a great extent occupied by the next species [Ph. 

 graculus]. It frequents various caves on the east side of the Long Island from Barra to Lewis, 

 and is also found on the Haskeir rocks. Within the circle of the inner islands it is found 

 breeding on some parts of the coasts of Skye, Mull, and Islay, likewise in Rum, Eigg, and 

 Canna. Mr. Graham informs me that it is frequently met with in Iona and Staffa, though it 

 is by no means so common as the Green Cormorant. On all these islands it breeds apart from 

 its ally, and invariably perches at a high elevation on the rocks." 



In Shetland the Cormorant is resident and common, though less so than the Shag ; but it is 

 more often seen on fresh water than this latter species. In Ireland it is numerous and sedentary 

 in suitable localities. 



In Greenland it is said to be tolerably abundant ; and Holboll states that it breeds from the 

 Godhaab fjord northward as far as he went. It has also been observed on the east coast. 

 According to Faber it breeds only in the north of Iceland, and is a winter visitant in the south ; 

 but Herr Preyer says that it breeds on the Vestmannaeyjar. Professor Newton remarks, it is 

 certainly less often seen in Iceland than the Shag, but in the Faeroes it is common and resident. 

 Mr. Robert Collett informs me that the Cormorant breeds on the Norwegian coast from Stavanger 

 to the Varanger fiord, most numerously above the arctic circle, nesting always in the cliffs, and 

 never in trees. During passage it penetrates up the fiords, and is even seen occasionally on 

 rivers in the interior. 



In Sweden, according to Nilsson, this bird is found in autumn and winter on the southern 

 coast, and breeds on the Baltic coasts and islands at least as high up as Blekinge ; but it does 

 not breed in Finland, only occurring there on passage. Dr. Palmen states that it nests in 

 Lapland ; and he cites numerous instances of its occurrence in various parts of Finland down to 

 Helsingfors and Ekenas. Sabanaeff says that the Cormorant breeds numerously on the coasts of 

 the White Sea, and is found in Central Russia on passage, nesting also on the coasts of the 



