96 



CHINESE CORMORANT. 



(Phalacrocorax Sinensis.) 



Vh.Juscus, guld alhd, corpore subtus alhido maculisfascis. 

 Brown Cormorant with the throat white, the body beneath whitish 



with brown spots. 

 Pelecanus Sinensis. Lath. Ind. Orn, Sup, Ixx. 

 Chinese Cormorant. Lath. Syn. Sup. ii. 364. 

 Leu-tze. Staunt. Emh. Chin. ii. 388. pi 72. 

 Chinese Shag. Lath. Gefff Hist. x. 423. 



Figured and described by Sir George Staunton in 

 his account of the Embassy to China. It is less than 

 the Cormorant : the beak is yellow : irides blue : the 

 prevailing colour of the plumage brownish-black : the 

 chin white : the body whitish beneath, spotted with 

 brown : tail rounded, consisting of twelve feathers. 



Abundant in China, where it is trained by the in- 

 habitants to catch fish for their use. Sir G. Staunton 

 says, in the journey to Han-choo-foo, on the river Luen, 

 he observed, on a large lake close to the canal, and to 

 the eastward of it, thousands of small boats and rafts, 

 built entirely for this kind of fishing : on each boat 

 or raft were ten or twelve birds, which at a signal 

 from the owner plunge into the water, and it was 

 astonishing to see the enormous size of the fish with 

 which they return grasped in their beaks. They ap- 

 peared to be so well trained that it did not require 

 either ring or cord about their throats to prevent 

 them from swallowing any portion of their prey, 

 except what the master was pleased to return to them 

 for encouragement or food. 



