THE COMMON CORMORANT. 4X5 



character, but resembling that of the young of the Brown Pelican. They 

 crawled sluggishly about, aiding themselves in their progress with their bills, 

 and at all times looked extremely clumsy. They took food very readily, ate 

 a prodigious quantity, certainly more than their own weight each day, and 

 appeared always ready to receive more. When thrown overboard, they 

 swam off under water, like the old birds, with considerable speed, moving 

 their unfledged wings all the while. Some would not rise for twenty or 

 thirty yards, but few went farther under water than that distance, and they 

 were soon fatigued. On one occasion, some half-grown young birds threw 

 themselves from their nest, or were pushed off by their parents while in the 

 agonies of death, they having been shot at. As they passed quickly down- 

 wards through the air, they moved their wings with great rapidity, and the 

 instant they reached the water they disappeared beneath the surface. 



This Cormorant swims at times with astonishing speed, keeping itself 

 deeply immersed. Now and then, should it apprehend danger, it sinks so 

 far as to shew only the head and neck, in the manner of the Anhinga. 

 When searching for food in clear shallow water, they frequently swim with 

 the rump rather elevated, and the head under, in the manner of the Shoveller 

 Duck on such occasions, as if they were looking for prey on the bottom; but 

 I never observed them act thus when the depth of water exceeded a few 

 yards. They secure their prey by diving and pursuing it under water, with 

 the wings partially extended and employed as paddles, while the tail directs 

 their course, and checks or accelerates their speed. I have observed this in 

 the Florida Cormorant, as well as in the present species. I never saw one 

 while flying plunge after its prey; but I have repeatedly seen them drop 

 from a rock headlong into the sea when shot at for the purpose of observing 

 their actions. 



Cormorants, Pelicans, Ducks, and other water birds of various kinds, are, 

 like land birds, at times infested with insects which lodge near the roots of 

 their feathers; and to clear themselves of this vermin, they beat up the water 

 about them by flapping their wings, their feathers being all the while ruffled 

 up, and rub or scratch themselves with their feet and claws, much in the same 

 manner as Turkeys and most land birds act, when scattering up the dry 

 warm earth or sand over them. The water birds after thus cleansing 

 themselves remove, if perchers, and able to fly, to the branches of trees, 

 spread out their wings and tail in the sun, and after awhile dress their 

 plumage. Those which are not perchers, or whose wings are too wet, swim 

 to the shores, or to such banks or rocks as are above water, and there perform 

 the same process. The Florida Cormorant is especially addicted to this 

 practice, and dives and plumes itself several times in the day. The Double- 

 crested and the present species, which inhabit colder regions, seem to be 



