CORMORANT AND OTHER DIVERS 33 



that the fish was held and literally pushed down 

 the gullet; at the same time the gullet below 

 appeared to be inflated. Occasionally this push- 

 ing action was alternated with a violent shaking 

 of the head. 



The actual distance that a cormorant can 

 travel under the water without coming to the 

 surface is given by various authorities as from 

 seventy to one hundred and twenty yards. I 

 personally consider the shorter distance nearer 

 the mark. 



As the bird does not stay under the water 

 more than a few seconds, it will be seen that it 

 travels at no mean rate even if it were to swim 

 straight forward. But the cormorant very 

 seldom swims straight ahead ; as a rule it behaves 

 like the otter under the water, and twists 

 and turns this way and that in its search for 

 fish. 



The two illustrations on the plate facing 

 page 34 show the cormorant fishing under the 

 water. When the upper photograph was taken 

 the bird swam round and regularly quartered the 

 ground in its search along the bottom. 



The lower illustration shows how it chased a 

 fish down and then seized it across the back. At 



