Page:Cassell's book of birds (IA cassellsbookofbi04breh).pdf/259

 is compressed at the sides, rounded above, furrowed at the sides of the upper mandible, bent downwards and strongly hooked at its tip. The legs are strong, and wings short, with the third quill longer than the rest. The tail consists of twelve feathers, and is shorter than that of the Darters. The Cormorants are met with from the middle of Norway to the south of Europe, and during the winter resort in countless multitudes to Africa. They are also very abundant in Central Asia and North America, whence they wander as far as the West Indies. The habitat of these birds is either the sea or fresh water, according to circumstances. They frequently resort to large rivers or lakes thickly skirted with trees, and sometimes make their appearance in inhabited districts, from which it is difficult to drive them away. An instance is even recorded in which they took up their quarters in the centre of a town, selecting the church tower for their citadel. They visit the sea in great numbers, and there seem to prefer certain localities, generally selecting a situation where the coast is but little accessible or where there are long reefs and ridges of rock. They are very abundant on the coast of Scandinavia, as also in Iceland, the Faroe Islands, the Hebrides, Orkneys, and other similar localities where they are little disturbed by mankind. During the winter season they are met with in equal abundance in more southern districts. In Greece they may be seen in great numbers from one year's end to another, both upon the large lakes and in the sea. In Egypt, they cover the lakes near the shore, as far as the eye can reach, whence they every morning fly out to sea in countless multitudes, returning in the evening. In Southern China and in India they are equally numerous. Indeed, it may be said that they are met with in every locality where water and fishes are to be had. In their habits and mode of life the Cormorants present many peculiarities. They are very sociable, and generally keep together in flights that are more or less numerous. It is a rare occurrence to see one of them alone. During the morning they are always indefatigably employed in fishing; about noon they betake themselves to repose, and digest their food; towards evening they are again busy fishing, and afterwards they resort to the places where they sleep. These are generally lofty trees, growing at some little distance inland upon islands in rivers or lakes, the same upon which they subsequently build their nests; they are generally such as afford them an extensive prospect in every direction, and allow them to fly away and return with facility. The islands thus frequented are easily recognisable at a distance by the thick covering of nascent guano by which the ground is everywhere hidden; indeed, they would soon literally become beds of that material had it a Peruvian sun to dry, or as Scheffel says, "purify" it. Similar deposits are likewise to be seen on islands in the sea, which seldom fail to arrest the attention of the passing mariner. Their history, however, is quite intelligible, and their appearance remarkable when they are densely covered with Cormorants, sitting in close ranks like regiments of soldiers, tier above tier, all turned in the same direction with their faces towards the sea; thus presenting a strangely picturesque scene, for although they are stationary, they are by no means motionless; each of them is constantly moving its head, spreading its tail, or stretching out its wings, so as to give an appearance of animation to the whole assemblage. For a single individual among them to remove from the place where it stands without flying away altogether is an impossibility, so densely are they crowded together. It is asserted by some that these birds can only walk while propping themselves up with their tails; this, however, is not correct; their walk, it is true, is but a clumsy waddle, still it enables them to get over the ground with tolerable quickness. Upon the branches of trees the Cormorants are much more at home than on level ground; nevertheless, like the Snake-necks it is only when swimming or diving in the water that they show their real capabilities. Should a boat approach the rock upon which hundreds of them have taken their station, they first begin to show symptoms of uneasiness by stretching out their necks and moving their heads; they then begin a sort of restless shuffling backwards and forwards, and ultimately they take flight; a few of the assembled multitude rise into