up one side of the spire, but finding one of the knobs, with which
it is studded, broken off, he descended, and succeeded in another
place, clambered round and over the millstone at the top, and so
reached the summit. He then tied his neckerchief to the weathercock,
and danced a hornpipe round it, on the said stone, which no doubt
he considered as the ' truck.1 1 [e must have been the Blondin of
that date. The spire was at that time about two hundred and seventy
feet high, the uppermost portion having been struck down by lightning.
It has since been restored to its original height of three hundred feet.
Nothing is more interesting than to see a Cormorant fishing, so well
does he swim, and so quickly does he dive. There he is, long and low
in the water, like a pirate craft, and equally swift for his size. To
pursue is to capture, and to overtake is death. Nor is he ever becalmed,
wind-bound, or without the weather guagc; or if he floats indeed on a
surface unruffled by a breath of air and as smooth as glass, he has
oars which are never motionless, and his upright head is unceasingly
on the look out. Now he raises his body, and down below and onwards
he plunges, as if in the act of making a sommersault: you cannot help
but look with interest lor his re-appearance, and on a sudden he starts
up after a lengthened dive, where you perhaps expected him, or still
more likely in a different spot—a fish yon may be almost sure he has.
I n the old days of the ttint-aud-steel guns, the first flash used to
send the Cormorant down, so quick was his eye, and even now it is
difficult to get within shot. They fly strongly and well, though not
very fast, and at a considerable height, if over the land. They may
often be seen standing on the shore or rocks apparently to dry their
wings, previous to which the one kept by Montagu was observed to
beat the water violently with its wings without moving from the spot,
then shake its whole body, ruffle its feathers, at the same time covering
itself with water, and this many times together with short intervals of
rest. They arc able to perch on trees. The young dive instinctively
even from the very first.
I t is curious to watch the Cormorant swallowing, or attempting to
swallow a fish, eel, or other, too large to be got down at once; sometimes
as much as half an hour is passed in the attempt, before a
successful issue is come to: at last down it goes, and always head
foremost. Fish are its natural food, and those of the size of a herring
or mackerel it can swallow whole. One has been seen to carry an eel
it had caught to a rail it had previously been sitting on, strike it with
three or four hard blows against the rail, and then after tossing it up
into the air, catch it by the head, and swallow it at once. Colonel
Montagu .sa\s, "If by accident a large fish sticks in the gullet, it has
the power of inflating that part to its utmost, and while in that state
the head and neck are shaken violently, in order to promote its passage.'
He adds, speaking of a tame bird he had, ' t o a gull with a piece of
fish it will instantly give c h a s e : ' i n this it seemed actuated by a desire
to possess the fish, for if the gull had time to swallow it no resentment
was offered.'
Meyer writes, iWhen this bird is engaged in fishing, it frequently
swims with its head beneath the surface of the water, in order, most
probably, to overcome the difficulty, caused by the ripple ou its surface,
of seeing its prey; (or rather, in my opinion, to try to swallow some
fish it has already caught, and stretching out its neck to aid it in doing
so,) and from time to time it dives under to catch the fish, which it
can pursue for more than sixty or seventy yards under water, before it
is obliged to come up for air. Several Cormorants may be seen at a
time sitting side by side on the water's edge, looking out for fish, and
if they are frightened they rise up to a sufficient height in the air to
be out of gunshot. When this b u d is met with at a distance from the
sea, it frequently seems to lose its presence of mind, and is easily approached
and captured/ When attacked at close quarters on its natural
element, it defends itself to the last with its strong bill, and is a
formidable antagonist. Mover also asserts that the birds frequently
assist each other in killing the more unmanageable fishes, but if so it
must rather, I should think, be from a selfish motive, and with a private
end in view that they are thus officious in being 'in at the death:' I
do not incline to think that there is much disinterested generosity in
the nature of the Cormorant.
The note of this species is a harsh ' kree,' 'kraw,' or 'krclL' The
young ones have a querulous cry.
The Cormorant naturally prefers an elevated situation for its nest,
though in default of such it is obliged to put up with a lowly one.
I t is well for those of a higher rank in creation than the bird when
they can thus readily accommodate themselves to the circumstances
in which they are placed. Many pairs congregate together.
I n the former case the tops of lofty cliffs are built on, or, as the
next best, high trees. Failing these, a bed of rushes is made to serve
the purpose on the mainland; or the top of a low island rock is
resorted to.
The nest, which is large, is composed of sticks or sea-weeds, heaped
up to the height of a couple of feet. The finer portions of grass
forming the interior.
The eggs, small in proportion to the size of the bird, are of a palo
bluish or greenish white colour, without polish, and of an oblong shape.