The cormorant is a strange and remarkable bird, and is found in many parts of the world. It is of large size and somewhat resembles the goose and the pelican. Its feet are webbed, and its middle toe has notches like the teeth of a saw, which help it to hold its prey. Its plumage is generally dark, while the feathers on its head and neck are jet black. Its bill is long and straight, except at the end, where the upper part bends into a sharp hook.

The cormorant is a great fisher, and it is needless to say that it is only found where fish are to be had, as it lives chiefly upon them. It is a very greedy bird, and will hover over the water for hours at a time, catching and devouring fish until it can swallow no more. Sometimes the cormorant will play with its prey, letting it go and diving after it several times, but its victim never escapes in the end. This bird has seldom been known to miss its aim when diving for a fish. It drops from a great height when descending upon its prey, and sometimes it is seen to emerge from the water holding a fish by the tail, in which case it cannot very well manage to swallow it, so the fish is tossed up into the air and, turning a complete somersault, comes down head foremost into the bird’s mouth. The home of the cormorant is among the steep ledges of rock by the sea, where they build their nests and rear their young. Their nests are made of dry sticks, weeds and moss. The old birds return each year to their old nests, repair them and begin rearing another brood. At night those having no broods roost apart, standing erect in files upon the top of some high ledge. The young birds are of a livid color and present a very unattractive appearance. Their legs and feet are enormous and all out of proportion to their little bodies.

When leaving for the season cormorants fly in long lines one after another. In their wild state it is almost impossible to get very near the cormorants when they are fishing, as they are very cautious and have many sentinels to warn them of the approach of danger.

In far-off China the cormorant is tamed and put to a very curious and practical use. When a Chinaman goes fishing he does not take a rod and line, as we do, but sets out in his boat and takes some trained cormorants along with him. As soon as he comes to a place where there are plenty of fish, the cormorants plunge into the water, catching fish after fish, and, at their master’s call, dropping them in the bottom of the boat. These birds are so greedy that if left to themselves they would eat the fish as fast as they caught them, so the cunning Chinaman ties a small piece of twine around their necks so that they cannot swallow it. In this way he gets a boatload of fish with very little trouble. After the cormorants have finished their work, the strings are untied and they are allowed to fish for themselves.

Walter Cummings Butterworth.