180 LITTI-E CORMORANT. 



Dr. Lindermaycr says that it breeds along tlic Island 

 of Euboa, in the inland lakes, and tlie surrounding 

 country. 



"The Little Cormorant/' says M. Dubois, "frequents 

 the lakes in the interior of the continent, as "well as 

 the sea; but it loves, above all things, extensive 

 marshes which are full of reeds and other aquatic 

 plants, and cut into channels of deep water, full of 

 fish, where they can constantly seek their food, for 

 they are very voracious, and wage a constant war 

 against the finny tribe. When they wish to rest they 

 place themselves on the trunk of a tree, or post sur- 

 rounded with water, where they remain for hours 

 without moving. 



"Their immobility seems to be a source of the greatest 

 pleasure to them in fine weather. Plunged into a half 

 sleepy condition, it is at such times easy to cover them 

 with the gun; but the sportsman is often deceived 

 when he thinks by their sudden fall into the water 

 that they are mortally wounded, as they often rise to 

 the surface again far beyond his reach. They swim 

 with an inconceivable dexterity, and they can hardly 

 be seen when they are in the water, as they only 

 shew a small part of the head and the top of the back. 



"They are very sociable, above all to their congeners; 

 they are seen united in large numbers in the places 

 where they breed, and they live there peaceably, even 

 with birds of another species. To construct their nest 

 they generally choose a site which is dangerous to 

 approach. They select the trunk of a willow which is 

 surrounded by mud and slime, which forbids all 

 approach even in a boat. Two or three nests are 

 sometimes found on the same stump, composed of small 

 branches and reeds, which they build up to a rather 



