forms of sticks, lined with grass. Mr. H. Seebohm has
given an account (Zool. 1880, p. 460) of a colony near the
Horster Meere, in Holland, in which some 200 nests were
on the open ground.
The young when first excluded are blind, and covered
with a bluish-black skin ; in the course of a few days they
acquire a thick covering of black down, and in three weeks
or a month they are sufficiently Hedged to be carried on the
backs of their parents to the water, though still unable to fly.
The old birds fly well, generally low over the surface of the
water; they swim rapidly, and dive in perfection ; their food
is fish, which they appear to catch with great ease and hold
with certainty, by the sharp, hooked, horny point of the
upper mandible; their dilatable throat enabling them to
swallow a large prey.* When fishing they are frequently
observed to carry their heads under water, perhaps that
vision may not be interfered with by the ripple on the surface.
They are frequently seen sitting on posts, rails, or
leafless trees by the water side, when, if a fish should move
on the surface within their sight, it is pounced upon, and
caught to a certainty. An eel is a favourite morsel with
him, and a Cormorant has been seen to pick up an eel from
the mud, return to the rail he was previously sitting upon,
strike the eel three or four hard blows against the rail, toss
it up into the air, and catching it by the head in its fall,
swallow it in an instant. Cormorants on the wing frequently
follow the course of a river many miles inland ; and some
years ago one of these birds was shot on King’s College
Chapel, Cambridge.
That Cormorants possess considerable intelligence is
shown by several circumstances. They are easily reconciled
to confinement; and Montagu, in his Supplement, relates
an interesting account of one that very soon became so tame
and attached, that it seemed to be never so happy as when
permitted to remain by the side of its owner. Saxby, in his
‘ Birds of Shetland ’ (p. 317), describes one which used to go
* Mr. Gratcombe has known a Wrasse 14 inches in length and over 4 inches
in depth, taken from the gullet of a Cormorant shot in Plymouth Sound.
and fish for himself, always returning to the fireside, which
was his favourite place, and so attached was he to his master
that he would fly several hundred yards to meet him.
Sir Robert Shafto Adair told the Author that a pair of
Cormorants took to, fed, and brought up a nest of young
Ravens, the natural parents of which had both been destroyed.
The gamekeeper was desired to watch the proceedings,
and reported that the Cormorants brought a constant
supply of fish.
It would appear that from time immemorial down to the
present day, the Chinese and Japanese have trained Cormorants
to take fish. The bird is taken to the water
side; a metal ring, or leather strap, by way of collar, is
usually, but not invariably, put on its neck, and it is
then set at liberty to catch a fish, which it brings to
hand when called, a small cord being attached to it,
while in training, to insure return; having satisfied the
wants of the master, the collar is taken off, and the bird
is then allowed to fish for itself. On other occasions,
when well trained, two birds are taken by the fisherman
upon the water on a raft to fish, as shown in the representation
used as a vignette at the end of this subject. The
Cormorants appear to fish and rest by turns, and are
assisted in gaining a footing upon the raft by the fisherman
using a short pole. From an interesting history of fishing
with Cormorants, given by Mr. J. E. Harting in his ‘ Essays
on Sport and Natural History,’ pp. 423-440, it would
seem that this practice was introduced into Europe as an
amusement early in the seventeenth century : probably by
the Dutch; and was taken up by Louis XIII. of France,
and James I. of England. The latter became fascinated by
the sport, which was also followed by his son and successor.
According to Pennant, Whitelocke had a cast of them
“ manned ” like hawks, to come to hand, in which he
took much pleasure, relating that the best he had was
one presented to him by Mr. Wood, Master of the Cormorants
to Charles I. Willughby, in his ‘ Ornithology ’
(1678), describes the mode of training and fishing, wffiich,