258 THE Birps Asout Us. 
share, when down swooped a skua from aloft, right on to the heap of 
gulls, seized the fish, and swallowed it at once. 
“ The shag (cormorant) ought to learn to swallow under water, and 
the gull to devour its prey at once in the air. The skua is merely a 
gull which has developed itself by fighting for morsels.” 
On the Pacific coast are two well-marked species 
of cormorant, known respectively as the “ Violet 
Green” and “ Brandt’s.” 
J. K. Townsend, in his “ Narrative of a Journey 
across the Rocky Mountains to the Columbia River” 
(1839), says of the “ Violet Green” species,— 
“This most splendid of all the species of cormorants yet discov- 
ered inhabits in considerable numbers the rocky cape at the en- 
trance of the Columbia River, upon the sides of which it often rests, 
and no doubt rears its young within the natural cavities which front 
the tempestucus ocean, and in situations wholly inaccessible to man. 
Sometimes many weeks elapse in which not a single cormorant is 
seen, when suddenly a flock of fifty or sixty is observed to enter the 
bay, every individual of which immediately commences an assiduous 
search for the small fish and mollusca which constitute its food. It 
never ascends the river, but keeping almost constantly around the 
cape, under shelter of the enormous breakers which are incessantly 
dashing against it, successfully defies all attempts to shoot it... . 
“The Indians of the Northwest coast make cloaks of the skins of 
this bird, sewed together. It is probably even more numerous to the 
north of Cape Disappointment, and must necessarily frequent less 
inaccessible places.” 
Of Brandt’s Cormorant the same author states,— 
“This species inhabits the Columbia River, and is not uncommon. 
It is seldom seen near the sea, but is mostly observed high up upon 
the river. It is, like most species of its genus, partially gregarious, 
and is fond of resting in company. The old trees which are 
fastened in the bottom of the river, and protrude above the surface, 
and the isolated rocks in the stream, are its favorite places of resort. 
Here it sits, sometimes for hours together, indolently gazing into the 
water, and only leaving its perch to seize an unsuspecting fish which 
