472 
PELICANID^E. 
wildly round them, and ducking their heads up and down 
two or three times, they suddenly assume a horizontal posi¬ 
tion, and, leaving their nests, take to flight, pass around 
you once or twice, and then retire to some neighbouring 
rock, where they remain for a time quietly seated; and 
then, as if impatient of your delay, again rise and wheel 
round you as before. A flock of Cormorants thus on 
wing is a most curious sight. On landing, it is by no 
means easy to obtain a sure footing ; the rock is entirely 
covered with the dung of the birds, and is very slippery, 
and intolerably foetid. The nests, which are placed 
at short distances from each other, are large, and some¬ 
times singularly lofty, measuring upwards of two feet in 
height. They are composed of a large quantity of the 
coarser sea-weeds, and lined with finer weed and dry 
grass. Their eggs are four or five in number; the outer 
surface, which is soft and chalky, is easily scraped off 
with a knife, and, in places where it is deficient, dis¬ 
covers a hard shell of a bluish green colour. 
