THE DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT. 
135 
distance from the shore. They enter our large bays, rivers and creeks, 
going up as far as the tide, but are seldom or never seen fishing in fresh- 
water. Their stay along the Middle Districts continues from the beginning 
of October to the middle of April; farther east they are seen a month earlier, 
and disappear a fortnight later. A good number breed on the Seal Islands ofl 
the Bay of Fundy, but the greater part return to Labrador and Baffin’s Bay, 
where Dr. Richardson found this species. To that excellent man and 
intrepid traveller, we are indebted, among other valuable fruits of his 
labours, for the first good description of this bird. From his account and 
the information which I have received from Captain Jambs Clark Ross, I 
believe that it does not go much farther north than the place where it was 
ooserved by the first mentioned traveller ; and no Cormorants were seen 
during the late voyage to the Arctic circle. It is probable that neither the 
Double-crested nor the Florida Cormorants occur in any part of Europe; 
at least, if they have been described as birds of that quarter of the globe, 
I can find no account sufficiently correct to enable me to recognise them. 
A few miles from one of the entrances of the Harbour of Whapatiguan, is 
a low and flat island about a mile in length, on which the present species 
breeds. As we sailed past it, we could easily observe the birds on their 
nests, all over the rock, which was completely white-washed with their 
excrement, that emitted a disagreeable odour to a great distance. I had seen 
several islands near the Harbour of Great Macatina inhabited by these 
Cormorants, but being anxious to complete the examination of one sub- 
ject at a time, and knowing that we should see a greater number as we 
approached the Straits of Belle Isle, I put off the investigation until T 
should have leisure to prosecute it satisfactorily. 
My son, accompanied by the captain and four sailors, sailed for Cormorant 
Island, on which, however, they found great difficulty in landing, for the 
surf broke so fearfully as to call into requisition all the judgment and good 
management of Mr. Emery. The moment they landed, almost all the birds 
of the island rose on wing, darkening the air, and alighted at some distance 
on the water in large bodies. They were so shy that it was not without 
considerable difficulty that ten of them were obtained. At the first shot, 
hnndreds of young ones scrambled out of their nests, and huddled together 
in packs of fifteen or twenty. When the men approached them, they opened 
their bills, squeaked, hissed, and puffed in a most outrageous manner ; and 
the noise produced by the multitudes on the island was not merely disagree- 
able, but really shocking. Some of the nests contained eggs, and the young 
were of all sizes, from the newly hatched up to those able to fly ; none, 
nowever, even of the largest, attempted to gain the water, but all preferred 
Riding themselves in the fissures of the rocks, or behind the nests. It was 
