THE CORMORANT. 
389 
merely of half a dozen bamboo , poles, which formed a light 
raft sufficient for himself and the birds, and was easily 
paddled with a single oar. During the time Mr. Smith 
watched their operations, they caught three or four fish, one 
of which was more than the captor could manage, and 
weighed down its bill below the stream as it floated towards 
the raft. It is said that a ring placed round the lower 
portion of the throat of their fishing Cormorants, disables 
them from swallowing their prey before the boatman arrives 
to the rescue. 
To the Pelican succeeds the Cormorant ; so closely, indeed, 
are they allied, that many naturalists have classed them 
together, and given them the same scientific name ; for in- 
stance, our common Cormorant is called JPelicanus carho. 
The Cormorant, however, may he distinguished by the claw 
of the middle toe being indented like a saw, # probably to 
help him in retaining the slippery bodies of small fish, as the 
toothed claw of the Herons serves for a similar purpose. 
Possibly it may further serve so awkwardly- shaped a bird, 
by enabling it to cling to branches ; for although they usually 
frequent rocks and precipices, they can, and very often do, 
perch on trees. The poet, Milton, seems to have been aware 
of this, when he describes Satan taking the form of this ill- 
favoured bird, when he first entered Paradise, devising the 
ruin of our first parents : — 
TJp he flew, and on the tree of life 
Sat like a Cormorant — devising death 
To them that lived. 
The poet could not, indeed, easily have selected a fitter frame 
for the foul fiend than that of a Cormorant : there is some- 
thing so unearthly about him, as he is seen reposing on a 
rock, when gorged with food; his slouching form, his wet 
and vapid wings dangling from his sides to catch the breeze, 
while his weird, haggard, wildly -staring, emerald-green eyes 
scowl about in all directions. 
See figure inserted in page 315. 
