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THE LIVING WORLD. 
The cormorant builds its nest on the shore, of sticks, sea-weed and grass, 
in which the female lays usually from four to six rather small eggs, of a pale 
greenish cast. When the young are first hatched they are destitute of down, 
being covered with black skin. The general color of the cormorant is black, 
sprinkled with hairy feathers of white, with a crest on the crown of the head. 
The upper parts of the body are brown, mottled with black, and the front of 
the throat and under surface is a velvety black. The length of the bird is 
about three feet. 
The Water Hen (. Fulica atra) is common wherever in English waters 
there are rushes. The water he?i , or moor hen , apportions the brightest plumage 
to the male, which is dark green in color, except tor blackish gray on the head, 
neck and belly, and red at the base of its bill and on the upper thigh. The 
water hen builds .its nests of sticks, sedge and leaves; not content with one 
FISHING WITH CORMORANTS. 
nest, it makes several, and as its fancy suggests moves its family from one 
to another. Should the nest be threatened by rising water she continues to add 
to the height and thus protects it from an overflow. When the water hen is 
to be absent for any length of time from the nest, she leaves it so covered with 
leaves as to very thoroughly conceal it. The illustration in The Living World, 
however, shows a water hen which has just left its nest, and another hen 
watching the sportings of her half-grown chicks. This bird is both a 
wader and a swimmer, for which reason it is used as a link between these two 
classes and properly introduces the swimming birds of The Living World. 
Another species technically known as fulica chloropus is common to the fresh 
waters of America under the more familiar name of mud hen. It is found in 
ponds and especially where lily-pads are abundant, the roots and seeds of 
