Page:Natural History, Birds.djvu/333

320 long, the third quill the longest; the tail stiff and rigid.

These voracious birds are of dark, but often rich colours, they undergo a seasonal change of plumage, and the young differ from the adults. In winter they perform a partial migration inland to the lakes or rivers; they habitually perch on trees, or sit on the ledges of precipitous sea-ward rocks, on which they make large nests and breed. They are susceptible of domestication, and in some countries still, as in our own formerly, are trained to catch and bring in fish.

The Green Cormorant, or Shag (Phalacracorax cristatus, .), is abundantly distributed around the British coast, and that of the north of Europe: it was also found at the Cape of Good Hope by Dr. A. Smith. The adult male in his winter dress has the whole plumage of a rich, dark, and lustrous green; the upper parts finely bronzed, and each feather margined with a border of fine velvety black; the tail is of a dead black; the base of the beak and small throat-pouch are of a fine yellow hue; the iris of the eye clear green. During the spring a fine tuft or crest of wide and outspread feathers, about an inch and a half high, capable of erection, rises from the crown and hind head, which is lost after the breeding season.

The habits of the Shag are decidedly maritime: it rarely quits the sea to follow the course of a river, nor does it perch on trees, like the other Cormorants. It makes a large nest, composed of sea-weed, in the fissures, and on the ledges of rocks; many associating together; Col. Montagu says he has seen thirty nests close together on a