370 
SWIMMERS. 
weed and lined with grass or leaves. Usually the nest is the accumu- 
lation of years, and becomes a heap of twigs, rotten at the base and 
surmounted by a layer of fresh herbage. 
2-6 (usually 3); white, with a rough, chalk-like surface, the 
inside of the shell sea-green or pale blue ; size variable, average about 
2.60 X I -Co. 
The Cormorant, Phalacrocorax, or Bald Raven, of the Greeks, 
like the Pelican, to which it is nearly related, is also a general 
inhabitant of nearly every maritime part of the world, and even 
extends its residence into the inclement regions of Greenland, 
where, by following the openings of the great icy barriers of that 
dreary region, it finds means to subsist and to fish throughout 
the year. To the natives of this frigid climate it also proves 
of singular service : its tough skin is used by them as gar- 
ments, the pouch is employed as a bladder to float their fish- 
ing-tackle, and the flesh, though coarse, is still acceptable to 
those who can regale upon seal’s and whale’s blubber. 
These uncouth and gluttonous birds are plentiful on the 
rocky shores of Great Britain, Holland, France, and Germany. 
On the shores of the Caspian they are sometimes seen in vast 
flocks, and are frequent on Lake Baikal. They inhabit China 
and the coast of the Cape of Good Hope, and are common in 
the Philippine Islands, New Holland, New Zealand, and other 
neighboring regions. At Nootka Sound and in Kamtschatka 
they have been observed by various navigators, and are found 
in North .'\merica from Hudson Bay and Labrador to the 
coasts of Carolina and Georgia. They are not. however, com- 
mon in the central parts of the United States, though they 
penetrate into the interior as far as the Missouri River. They 
breed and are seen in the vicinity of Boston on bare and rocky 
islands nearly throughout the year, and in all places appear 
shy, retiring, and sedentary, enduring the most severe weather 
with impunity, and only removing seaward or south in the 
depth of winter for the purpose of acquiring food. Mr. .Audu- 
bon found them breeding on the ledges of almost inaccessible 
rocks at Grand Menan isle, in the Bay of Fundy. They appear 
very wary and shy, and feed their young with great assiduity, 
whose voice at this time resembles the hissing of snakes. 
