experience of certain maritime colonies of this Cormorant
the nests were composed of sea-weed, with
occasionally some dry sticks and drift-wood, in some
instances a lining of rushes or coarse grass. The eggs
are pointed at both ends ; the true shell is of a delicate
pale green-blue, but is generally more or less thickly
coated or splashed with a white chalky material that is
easily scraped off with a knife. A newly hatched
Cormorant is a curious, but by no means a lovely object,
being featherless, blind, and of a dark lead colour. It
is said that the young birds of this species are carried
down to the water by their parents long before they
can fly; in confirmation of this statement I can only
say that I have frequently chased young Cormorants
in boats and been completely beaten by their activity
upon and under the water, although they were, to all
appearance, incapable of flight. The cliff-breeding
Cormorants often travel daily to long distances for
fishing purposes: I have frequently met with them just
below Totnes on the Dart during their breeding-season;
this must be at least 8 or 10 miles from the nearest
nesting-place. The voracity of this bird is in my
experience unrivalled except by its near ally the Pelican,
who, of course, has more stowage capacity. In captivity
a young Cormorant seems perfectly at home at once,
and an old one will become tame in a very few days.
My friend Captain F. H. Salvin has trained many of
these birds to catch fish, or, I should rather say, has
allowed many to do so on his account, for no training
is really required, the bird when not replete being
too glad to follow his natural instinct in the capture of
prey, that he does not swallow only because prevented
from doing so by a collar. To those who have never
watched a wild Cormorant at work on its own account
this style of fishing may be amusing enough, but I
confess that it never had any attraction for me, and I
infinitely prefer a rat-hunt conducted upon fair
sporting principles ; I believe, however, that to see the
perfection of fishing with Cormorants for human advantage,
it is necessary to visit China and Japan. I
have met with the Cormorant, roughly speaking, wherever
fishes are to be caught by diving in salt or fresh water,
with immunity from human persecution, but this species
is far less common in the Mediterranean than the Shag
above mentioned.