THE CORMORANT. 



Sir George Stannton's account. 



plentiful table; but still their natural gluttony 

 cannot be reclaimed even by education. They 

 Lave always, while they fish, the same string fas- 

 tened round their throats, to prevent them from 

 devouring their prey, as otherwise they would at 

 once satiate themselves, and discontinue the pur- 

 suit the moment they had filled their bellies." 



The following account of this Chinese bird, 

 by Sir George Staunton, is the most authentic 

 of any that has yet been given to us. 



" The embassy," he says, " had not proceeded 

 far on the southern branch of the Imperial Ca- 

 nal, when they arrived in the vicinity of a place 

 where the Leu-tze, or famed fishing bird of 

 China, is bred and instructed in the art and prac- 

 tice of supplying his owner with fish in great 

 abundance. It is a species of the pelican, re- 

 sembling the common cormorant ; but on a spe- 

 cimen being submitted to Dr. Shaw, he has dis- 

 tinguished it in the following terms. 



" Brown pelican, or cormorant, with white 

 throat, the body whitish beneath ; the tail round- 

 ed ; the irides blue; the bill yellow. 



" On a large lake close to this part of the ca- 

 nal, and to the eastward of it are thousands of 

 small boats and rafts built entirely for this species 

 of fishing. On each boat, or raft, are ten or a 

 dozen birds, which, at a signal fiom the owner, 

 plunge into the water, and it is astonishing to 

 see the enormous size of the fish with which 

 they return, grasped within their bills. They 

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