188 
THE BIRDS OF HAMPSHIRE. 
Order— STEGANOPODES. 
Fa m I L Y — Pelecanidce. 
Genu S — PJialacrocorax. 
143. Phalacrocorax carbo. Cormorant. 
Isle of Wight Parson. 
A common resident on the coast ; nesting, however, 
only in the Isle of Wight, in some numbers on the Culvers, 
and on the Freshwater and Needles Cliffs. 
Warner gives in his " History of the Isle of Wight " a 
curious description of the habits of this bird — "vulgarly 
called in these parts the ' Isle of Wight parson.' " 
" It builds in, and inhabits the immense precipices of 
Freshwater, for the better part of the year. During the 
winter, however, the voracious plunderer may be seen pur- 
suing his depredations in the rivers and creeks for many 
miles around. Here the solitary savage is on the perpetual 
watch for prey ; tortured w^ith unquenchable hunger, occa- 
sioned by a multitude of worms, which inhabit his inside, 
and, like the dogs in Milton's Sin, would make his bowels 
their repast, did he not supply their voracity by unceasing 
repletion. For this purpose, the miserable glutton is seen 
continually diving after the fish, which his piercing eye can 
discern at a great depth in the water ; or perched on some 
solitary elevation, enjoying a temporary respite from labour 
and the attacks of his internal enemies. During these 
moments of idleness and ease, he is often seated on a lofty 
tree ; a situation somewhat singular for a waterfowl, and 
which, indeed (according to the observation of Aristotle), 
