THE Leu-tzé, or fishing cormorant of China, is the _pelicanus sinensis_,
and resembles very much the common cormorant of England, which, we are
told by naturalists, was once trained up to catch fish, pretty much in
the same manner as those of China are. They are exceedingly expert in
taking fish, and pursue them under water with great eagerness. They are
taken out, on the rivers and lakes, in boats or bamboo rafts; and though
sent on the chace after long fasting, they are so well trained that they
rarely swallow any of the fish they take until they are permitted to do
so by their masters. Many thousand families in China earn their
subsistence by means of these birds.
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[Illustration:
CHINA—PLATE 4
]
Plate IV.