64 
PELICANID-®. 
again to tlie surface of the water as soon as it has mastered 
its prize : this accounts for the worn state of the tips of 
the tail that may be observed in every Shag that lives in 
a state of nature. 
The breeding places of the Shag are already stated to 
be the shelves of rocks by the sea-side, but at a lesser 
elevation from the water than those of the cormorants. 
Twenty or more pairs of these birds may be found congre¬ 
gated for the same purpose; the nests are composed of 
sea-weeds, more or less carefully put together, and the 
eggs are three or four in number; in size, shape, and 
colour as represented in our plate. The materials of 
which the nest is composed, being impregnated with salt, 
by which they are kept in a wet state, form, together with 
the remains of their fishy food, a combination of odours 
better imagined than described. The greater number of 
Shags are reared in the northern countries before enume¬ 
rated, and it is ascertained that these birds annually return 
to their immediate birth-place in the breeding season. 
The entire length of the Shag is twenty-eight inches, 
its beak two inches and a half ; the tarsus two inches 
two lines; the tail five inches two lines; the wing ten 
inches and three quarters. 
The plumage of the adult Shag in winter is a rich, 
deep, glossy green ; the upper part of the back and scapulars 
and wing-coverts reflect purple and bronze, and every 
feather is narrowly edged with deep black ; the tail is 
fan-shaped and black. The base of the beak and the 
pouch are yellow, the beak brown, the legs black, and 
the eyes emerald gi-een. 
The spring or breeding plumage is fuller coloured, and 
the bird has a tuft of feathers on its head, which it erects 
at pleasure, as represented in our plate. 
