8 
MUSEUM BULLETIN NO. 13. 
From 3.52 to 5.25 p.m. eighty-five birds flew outwards toward the 
rookeries. The movement had been well under way for some 
time and continued diminishingly for awhile after. Estimat- 
ing that those counted represented a little less than half the 
birds frequenting the basin during the day, an ample allow- 
ance, I think, considering the comparatively regular habits of 
the birds, we have a total of 200 individuals regularly feeding 
in the mouth of the York river. 
Another day I was passing on the river road at a point where 
an extensive view could be obtained of the cormorant-frequented 
water. With field glasses, I counted 100 birds in sight. As this 
view included the greater part of the area most densely populated 
by the birds it probably included at least half of their number, 
which agrees with the figure arrived at by the previous method of 
estimation, namely 200. 
There are two other rivers in the immediate neighbourhood, 
the St. John and the Dartmouth, of like character to the York. 
Allowing an equal number of cormorants to the former and 300 
to the latter would satisfactorily account for the remainder of 
the estimated 700 birds inhabiting the bay. 
The food of the cormorant is practically entirely of fish. 
Probably a few crustaceans and molluscs are taken but in too 
small a number to be economically considered. 
During our investigation, we collected some thirty cormor- 
ant stomachs. Though we did not weigh any of them, I should 
judge that the contents of a well filled one would average about 
a pound and a half. Assuming two full meals a day per individual 
would give for the Gaspe basin 600 pounds of fish consumed per 
day by cormorants, or, assuming that the birds remain in the 
estuary 5 months, from May through September, in constant 
numerical force, 45 tons per season. This is only a rough estimate 
as no special allowance is made for feeding the young or for the 
increase of fishing population when the young leave the nest and 
fish for themselves. But, as there is a general dispersing ten- 
dency among old and young of most species after breeding and 
before migration, basing our figures on a constant population for 
the whole season probably makes up for the deficiency. At 
any rate the estimate is close enough to show that should the cor- 
