DIVERS, GREBES, AND CORMORANTS.
_Divers—Affinities and characteristics—Great Northern
Diver—Black-throated Diver—Red-throated
Diver—Grebes—Characteristics—Changes of Plumage—Great Crested
Grebe—Red-necked Grebe—Black-necked Grebe—Sclavonian Grebe—Little
Grebe—Cormorants—Characteristics—Changes of
Plumage—Cormorant—Shag—Gannet._
The birds included in the present chapter belong to three well-defined
families. None of them are so completely pelagic as the Auks, and yet,
according to season, many of them are interesting features in the
bird-life of the coast. Unfortunately for the summer visitor to the
seaside, the Divers will be absent. They are birds that resort chiefly
to inland districts to rear their young, or are only known as winter
visitors to the British Coasts. The Divers form a small but well-marked
family known as Colymbidæ, consisting of a single genus _Colymbus_, into
which are grouped the four species that are now known to science. The
Divers are allied to the Auks on the one hand, to the Grebes on the
other, although systematists are not yet agreed upon the degree of their
relationship. United, these three families form Dr. Sclater’s order
Pygopodes. In every way the Divers are remarkably well fitted for an
aquatic life. Their strong tarsi are laterally compressed, a form best
suited for cleaving the water, the hind toe is well developed, and on
the same plane as the rest, the feet are webbed, the bill is long,
straight, spear-shaped and conical, admirably adapted for seizing the
finny prey, the wings are comparatively short, yet capable of bearing
the bird at great speed, the tail is short and fairly developed. The
Divers in nuptial plumage are remarkably handsome birds, the neck being
striped or richly marked, and the upper plumage beautifully spotted or
adorned with white bars. They are all more or less gregarious birds
during winter, and well marked social tendencies are displayed in some
species during the breeding season. Their migrations, if comparatively
short, are pronounced and regular. The young are hatched covered with
down, able to swim with ease almost immediately. Adults moult in autumn,
and assume their nuptial plumage in winter—a period doubtless when they
pair—the winter plumage thus being carried for a short time. Young
Divers carry their first plumage through the winter until the following
spring (not moulting in December with their parents), when they assume
their summer plumage, but the nuptial ornaments are not so brilliant in
colour as in adults. Whether the vernal change in colour is effected
without moulting, as in the Auks and some of the Limicolæ, appears not
to have yet been ascertained. All the species of Divers are visitors to
the British Islands, but only two breed in them, and one is an
exceptionally irregular straggler. This is the largest of them all, the
White-billed Diver, _Colymbus adamsi_, and a species apparently
circumpolar in its distribution. The Divers are all birds of the
north-temperate or Arctic regions, during summer; in winter their range
is much more extended, almost reaching to the northern tropics. With
this brief résumé of their more salient characteristics, we will now
proceed to a more detailed examination of their economy.
GREAT NORTHERN DIVER.
This species, the _Colymbus glacialis_ of Linnæus and of ornithologists
generally, is, in its breeding plumage, one of the handsomest of British
birds. Its chief characteristics are its large size—about that of a
Goose—black head and neck, double semi-collars of white and black
vertical stripes, and black upper parts, marked with white spots of
varying size, and arranged in a series of belts. Whether it actually
breeds within our limits has not yet been absolutely determined,
although evidence is forthcoming that seems to point to the fact.
Unfortunately for the seaside student of bird life, the Great Northern
Diver is only known as a winter visitor. At that season, however, it may
be met with pretty frequently off the British coasts, the young birds
especially venturing into our bays and creeks and estuaries, older
individuals, as a rule, keeping further out to sea. Adult birds are,
however, often observed near the coasts of South Devonshire and
Cornwall. I have known them linger in the waters near here until the
summer has been well advanced. Young birds of this species, in the brown
and white dress characteristic of immaturity, may often be seen quietly
fishing under the cliffs, notably in Tor Bay. One very remarkable thing
about this Diver is its singular habit of immersing the body to such a
depth that the back is quite under water. It often so sinks itself when
menaced by danger, and then, almost out of sight, swims away with great
speed. If pursuit is still continued all but the neck is sunk below the
surface, and finally, if hotly pressed, the bird will disappear
entirely, and swim along under water at a speed absolutely astonishing,
Gätke records that this Diver, when chased by a boat under these
circumstances, will dive and allow the boat to pass over it, rising
again in the rear of it, a habit which my own observations of the bird
completely confirm. How this act of immersion, without apparent effort,
is accomplished remains a mystery, and offers a problem in animal
mechanics by no means easy of solution.
The Great Northern Diver is rarely seen on land, perhaps never except
during the breeding season. Its movements on shore are ungainly in the
extreme, the legs being placed so far back that the bird can only push
itself along in a crawling sort of a way; it is equally rarely seen in
the air, and apparently only uses its wings to fly when performing its
annual migrations. How the species still retains the function of flight
at all seems almost a mystery, but perhaps the constant use of the wings
in the water keeps them to a standard of efficiency. This Diver is one
of the least gregarious, and save on passage is rarely met with in
numbers greater than a pair. It seems to be the rule for odd pairs to
take up their residence in certain spots during the breeding season;
after that period the bird is usually met with solitary, and the young
individuals, unlike so many others that evince strong gregarious
propensities, for the most part wander about alone. This Diver, like
most big birds, is shy and wary, although I have repeatedly watched it
from the cliffs in Tor Bay evincing little concern at my presence. As
may be gathered from the foregoing remarks the Great Northern Diver is a
proficient in the art of diving, and is said to be able to remain as
long as eight minutes beneath the surface—a period of time which seems
incredible. The depth to which it sometimes descends is also enormous—it
has been captured in a net thirty fathoms from the surface. The food of
this Diver is almost, if not absolutely, composed of fish. During the
non-breeding season Divers are not particularly noisy birds, but at
their nesting-places the cries they utter are both loud and startling,
described by some listeners as similar to the screams of tortured
children; as shrieks of maddened laughter, or as weird and melancholy
howls by others.
It is a somewhat remarkable fact that the Great Northern Diver breeds
nowhere in Europe, except on Iceland. It is an American species, and
nests from Greenland westwards to Alaska, south of the Arctic circle to
the more northern of the United States. It reaches its breeding-grounds
in pairs towards the end of May, as soon as the northern waters are free
from ice. Its favourite nesting places are secluded tarns and lakes, and
an island is always selected if possible, doubtless from motives of
security. The nest—always made upon the ground—varies a good deal in
size, according to the local requirements. On wet marshy ground it is
large, and composed of a heap of half rotten sedges, rushes, reeds, and
such like vegetation, lined with dry bits of broken reed and withered
grass. On drier and barer situations it is little more than a hollow in
the sand or hard ground, with, perhaps, a few bits of dry grass for
lining. The birds are very alert and watchful whilst nesting, as if
fully conscious of their comparative difficulty in escaping from danger
on the land. One bird is generally on the look out whilst the other
sits, and at the least danger the alarm is given, and the incubating
partner shuffles off in a floundering way to the water. A path is soon
thus worn from the nest to the lake. The eggs are almost invariably two,
elongated, and varying in ground colour from russet-brown to
olive-brown, spotted sparingly with blackish-brown and paler brown. When
the young are sufficiently matured, the inland haunts are deserted, and
the nomad wandering life upon the sea resumed.
BLACK-THROATED DIVER.
The present species of Diver (much smaller than the preceding), the
_Colymbus arcticus_ of Linnæus and most other writers, is the rarest of
the three that visit the British Islands regularly, and perhaps we might
also say the most beautiful in nuptial dress. All its showy colours and
patterns, however, are on the head, neck, and upper parts, the under
surface being white. The head is gray, the throat patch black, above
which is a semi-collar of white striped vertically with black; the sides
of the neck are also striped with black and white; whilst the black
upper parts of the body are conspicuously marked with a regular series
of nearly square white spots, becoming oval in shape on the wing
coverts: the bill is black, the irides crimson. After the autumn moult
all this finery is lost, and the upper parts become a nearly uniform
blackish-brown. This Diver breeds sparingly in various parts of the
Hebrides and the Highlands, from Argyll to Caithness; elsewhere it is
only known as a winter visitor. In many of its habits it closely
resembles the preceding species. It is exclusively aquatic, only seeking
the land during the breeding season, but is, perhaps, not quite so
oceanic as that bird in the winter, when it not unfrequently haunts
inland waters. It dives with equal skill, flies with the same powerful
rapidity, and utters during the nesting season very similar unearthly
cries. Fish form the chief food of this Diver, but it is said also to
capture frogs. Most of the examples of this Diver that are seen close
in-shore (on our eastern and southern coasts principally) during winter
are immature, the older birds as a rule keeping further out to sea. The
Black-throated Diver indulges in the same peculiar habit of gradually
sinking its body in the sea when alarmed, and will frequently seek to
escape pursuit by diving outright, and swimming under water for a
considerable distance.
The Black-throated Divers that breed with us, retire to their inland
haunts in May. Its favourite nesting places are on islands in moorland
lochs, pools, and tarns. It displays few social tendencies at this
season, although several pairs not unfrequently nest within a
comparatively small area of exceptionally suitable country, each,
nevertheless, keeping to its own particular haunt. This Diver may also
pair for life, seeing that it evinces considerable attachment to certain
favourite nesting places. The nest is always made upon the ground, and
seldom very far from the water, to which the frightened bird can retire
readily. An island covered with short herbage is always preferred in
Scotland, but in some places the bare shingly beach is selected. This
nest, often of the slightest construction, is made of stalks of plants,
roots, and all kinds of drifted vegetable fragments, lined with grass.
Sometimes no nest whatever is made. The two eggs are narrow and
elongated, olive- or rufous-brown, sparingly spotted and speckled with
blackish-brown and paler brown. The sitting bird is ever on the alert to
slip off into the water at the first alarm; and sometimes both birds
will fly round and round in anxiety for the fate of their treasured
eggs. A movement seawards is soon taken when the young are sufficiently
matured. This Diver has a wide geographical range outside our limits,
extending across Europe and Asia to Japan and North-west America,
perhaps as far as Hudson Bay. American authorities, however, insist upon
the specific distinctness of most of the Black-throated Divers found in
Alaska, and have named this form _C. pacificus_.
RED-THROATED DIVER.
Smallest of the British Divers, the present species, the _Colymbus
septentrionalis_ of Linnæus and modern authorities, is also the best
known and the most widely distributed. It is also the least showy in
nuptial dress. In this plumage the throat is marked with an elongated
patch of chestnut; the head, and sides of the neck are ash-brown, the
latter striped with black and white, the general colour of the upper
plumage blackish-brown, sparingly spotted with white, and the under
parts are white. The plumage, as in all the Divers, is remarkably dense
and compact, adapted in every way to the aquatic habits of the bird. The
Red-throated Diver is a fairly frequent visitor, during autumn and
winter, off the English coasts, often entering bays and the mouths of
wide rivers. In summer, however, it becomes much more local, retiring
then to haunts in Scotland, especially in the Hebrides and along the
wild and little populated western districts, from the Clyde northwards
to the Shetlands. Outside our limits, this Diver has a very wide
distribution, occupying in summer the Arctic and north temperate regions
of Europe, Asia, and America; in winter migrating southwards for a
thousand miles or more. The Red-throated Diver is certainly the most
gregarious species, and in winter may not unfrequently be seen in
gatherings of varying size. In connection with this trait, mention may
be made of the extraordinary numbers of this bird that, on the 2nd and
3rd of December 1879, passed Heligoland. The movement was not strictly a
migratory one, but a grand flight of storm-driven, frozen-out birds,
seeking more congenial haunts. Gätke tells us that during this
visitation, there was about thirteen degrees of frost, an easterly wind,
and a snowstorm in the evening. The Divers were by no means alone in
their distress, for hundreds of thousands of Ducks, Geese, and Swans,
Curlews, Dunlins, and Oyster-catchers, passed from east to west. From
early morning until noon, on both days in succession, the Divers were
seen in one incessant stream, travelling north-east, in numbers
estimated almost by the million! Well may Gätke have wondered whence
such vast multitudes came, and whither they were going, and what was the
initial cause of such gregarious instincts, never manifested in this
Diver under any ordinary circumstances.
The Red-throated Diver is a master at the art of diving, and is often
seen slowly to sink its body under water when alarmed. It also flies
with great strength and speed, and is said to show more preference for
flying than either of its congeners. The food of this Diver is chiefly
composed of fish. Its ordinary note is a harsh _ak_ or _hark_; but at
the nesting places the same wild unearthly cries are uttered that are
equally characteristic of the other species. These cries are said to
foretell rain or rough weather, and have caused the bird to be called
“Rain Goose” in many Highland districts. The Red-throated Diver, however
agile and graceful it may be in the water or even in the air, is a
clumsy object on the land, incapable of walking upright, owing to the
backward position of its legs, and compelled to shuffle along with its
breast touching the surface. In winter these Divers are by no means shy,
and I have many times watched them pursuing their fishing operations,
from my station on the cliffs.
In May, the Red-throated Diver retires to its breeding stations—the wild
romantic lochs and pools so characteristic a feature of the Highlands
and the Hebrides. Solitary pairs generally scatter themselves over a
district, resenting intrusion, and keeping to their own particular
haunt. This Diver probably pairs for life, returning each successive
season to a certain spot to nest. An island is usually selected for the
nest, which is invariably made upon the ground, and consists generally
of little more than a hollow, into which is collected a few bits of
withered vegetation. As may be expected, this nest is seldom made far
from the water, so that at the least alarm the sitting bird can slip off
and shuffle into the water at once. The two narrow elongated eggs are
olive- or buffish-brown, spotted and speckled with blackish-brown and
paler brown.
GREBES.
In many respects Grebes are remarkable birds. They form so well defined
a group that no other known bird can possibly be confused with them,
their characteristics being absolutely unique among the class Aves. The
most noticeable external features of a Grebe are its relatively short
body, laterally compressed tarsi, lobed feet, rudimentary and
functionless tail, and dense compact plumage of a peculiar silky
texture. The twenty or so species of Grebes are grouped into a single
family, called Podicipedidæ, of which the genus _Podiceps_ (or more
correctly _Podicipes_) contains the greater number. The Grebes are
almost cosmopolitan. Five well-marked species are found in Europe, all
of which, being visitants or regular residents, are included in the
British avifauna. In the colours of their plumage the Grebes are not
very remarkable, with the exception of the crests or tippets assumed by
some species during the nuptial period: plain browns predominate on the
upper surface; the underparts are almost always glossy white. The Grebes
fly well; dive with great dexterity, but their movements on the ground
are not graceful. The young are hatched covered with close down, and
able to swim at once. The Grebes have a complete moult in autumn, and
assume their nuptial ornaments in spring. The quill feathers are moulted
so rapidly that for some little time the birds are unable to fly, as is
the case with the Geese and some others.
It is only during the winter months that the Grebes become pelagic or
marine in their habits, and even some species are much less addicted to
a sea life than others. We will now proceed briefly to glance at the
British species.
GREAT CRESTED GREBE.
This, the largest species, the _Podicipes cristatus_ of naturalists, is
chiefly an inland bird, but resorts to the sea when fresh waters are
frozen. I have sometimes met with half a dozen together in a quiet bay,
under these circumstances, and very graceful interesting birds they are.
They rarely come upon the land at these times, swimming about and diving
from time to time in quest of food. Like the Divers, they sometimes sink
the body very low in the water, but under ordinary conditions sit rather
high, with the long neck held well up, the head turned at intervals in
all directions as if on the look out for enemies. They always prefer to
dive when pursued; and as this species more especially is in great
demand by plumasiers, and subject to much persecution, it is wary and
shy in extreme. The food of this Grebe whilst on the sea is composed
largely of fish, but inland the bird’s tastes are more omnivorous.
Sometimes many of its own feathers are found in its stomach, mixed with
the food, but as yet ornithologists have been unable to assign any
plausible explanation of the fact. In Spring, the adults assume two very
conspicuous crests or horns of a dark brown colour, and a tippet or ruff
of bright bay, shading into nearly black on the margin. The birds now
retire inland to meres and lakes, where the shallows are full of reeds,
sedges, rushes, and other aquatic vegetation, and here, at some distance
from the shore, a large floating nest is made, composed of dead and
decaying vegetation. As the bird is sometimes gregarious several nests
may often be found within a small area—huge floating rafts moored to the
reeds, or built up from the bottom of the shallow water. In a shallow
depression at the top four or five eggs are laid, elliptical in shape,
chalky in texture, and white, until contact with the bird’s wet feet and
the wet nest covers them with stains. Several mock nests are often made
in the vicinity of the one containing the eggs, probably destined as
resting places for the future young. The sitting bird very dexterously
covers its eggs with weed when alarmed, previous to slipping off the
nest into the water. The note of this Grebe is a loud _kak_.
RED-NECKED GREBE.
This Grebe, the _Podicipes griseigena_ of Boddaert, and the _P.
rubricollis_ of most modern naturalists, is a fairly common winter
visitor to the seas off our eastern and southern coasts, from the
Orkneys to Cornwall. The range of the Red-necked Grebe outside our
limits is a wide one, and embraces during summer the sub-Arctic portions
of Europe, Asia, and America, becoming much more southerly in winter.
During winter this Grebe may be met with close inshore, yet it seldom or
never visits the land, living exclusively on the sea. Its habits at this
season do not differ in any marked degree from those of its congeners.
It may be seen swimming to and fro, sometimes just outside the fringe of
rough surf, diving from time to time in quest of its food, which at this
season is composed of fish principally. The nuptial ornaments of this
Grebe are not so conspicuous as those of the preceding species, the dark
crests are shorter, the tippet is scarcely perceptible, and the lower
neck and upper breast are rich chestnut. In winter plumage this Grebe is
best distinguished by its large size—next in this respect to the Great
Crested Grebe—and by the absence of the white streak over the eye, which
characterises that bird then. In April the Red-necked Grebe returns to
its accustomed inland summer haunts to breed. These are reed and
rush-fringed lakes and ponds. Here in the shallows a floating nest of
rotten vegetation is formed, smaller than that of the preceding species,
but otherwise closely resembling it. Many pairs may be found breeding
close together—in colonies, so to speak. The four or five elliptical
shaped eggs are laid in May or June, dirty white in colour, chalky in
texture. The same habit of covering the eggs with weeds, previous to
leaving them, may also be noted.
BLACK-NECKED GREBE.
This bird, the _Podicipes nigricollis_ of systematists, is so rarely met
with in the British area, that it scarcely requires more than a passing
allusion. Examples occasionally occur on our eastern and southern coasts
especially, but the bird is too rare to form any feature in the
ornithology of the British seaboard. It may be readily distinguished
from the other European Grebes by its decidedly up-curved bill, and by
the large amount of white on the primaries and secondaries. In the
nuptial plumage the head and neck are black. In its habits generally it
differs little from the other species.
SCLAVONIAN GREBE.
Along the eastern coasts of England, and round most of the Scottish
littoral, as well as off Ireland, this species, the _Podicipes cornutus_
of most naturalists, is of tolerably frequent occurrence during winter.
It requires all the skill of an expert ornithologist to distinguish this
Grebe in winter plumage, so closely does it resemble the Red-necked
species. It is a shorter winged bird, and has the three outermost
secondaries dusky brown, instead of white, as in that bird, whilst the
previous species is always distinguishable by its up-curved bill. There
is nothing in the habits of this Grebe to call for special remark: it
keeps exclusively to the water, dives to escape danger and to capture
prey, and swims beneath the surface as adroitly as a frog. The
Sclavonian Grebe is a wide ranging species, inhabiting during summer the
Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of Europe, Asia, and America, retiring
southwards in winter. This Grebe is exceptionally remarkable for its
nuptial ornaments, but which, as usual, are confined to the head and
upper neck. Two chestnut or bay-coloured crests start backwards over the
eyes, whilst the tippet is black. This ornament, when extended to its
utmost, looks very beautiful, and gives the head an appearance of being
surrounded by a glittering aureole. This Grebe is a late breeder, the
eggs not being laid before June. It retires to fresh-water pools for the
purpose of nesting, and resembles the other species closely in its
habits at this season, making a slovenly floating nest, and laying four
or five dull white eggs.
LITTLE GREBE.
This species is the smallest of the European Grebes, and certainly by
far the best known member of the family found in the British Islands. It
is rather remarkable that the Little Grebe was unknown as a distinct
species to Linnæus. It was known to Brisson as _Colymbus minor_, and to
most modern ornithologists as _Podicipes minor_, although some few
writers speak of this bird as _P. fluviatilis_. Outside the British
Islands it has a very wide distribution in Europe, Asia, and Africa, but
the Little Grebe of America is a distinct species. The Little Grebe is
found more or less frequently on the coast during winter, driven thereto
when frosts seal up its inland haunts. On the coast this bird is more
partial to the brackish back-waters, dykes, and estuaries, than to the
open sea. The food of this bird consists not only of fish, but small
crustaceans and molluscs, aquatic insects, young frogs, and various
vegetable fragments. Its habits are very similar to those of the other
Grebes; its swimming and diving powers are wonderful; its flight on
occasion is rapid and strong, whilst its note is a shrill but not very
loud _weet_. In its nesting economy the Little Grebe closely resembles
its congeners. It quits the coast in spring, resorting to inland pools,
often of very small size, making its usually floating or
water-surrounded nest amongst the vegetation fringing the shallows, on
which it deposits five or six eggs, dull white in colour. The parents
often dive with their young from the nest to carry them out of impending
danger—a habit common to all species in this genus.
CORMORANTS.
The Grebes are so little in evidence to the seaside naturalist that an
account of them seems more like a digression in our narrative, than a
continuation of our observations concerning the bird life of the sea. We
now, however, reach another pelagic group, consisting of birds that form
an important and seldom absent feature in marine ornithology. And yet,
so great is the adaptability of some species, the Cormorant is by no
means exclusively confined to the sea, has many inland breeding
stations, and repeatedly wanders from the coast to fresh waters, where
an abundant supply of fish offers a solace to its great voracity. The
Cormorants and the Gannet are members of the family Phalacrocoracidæ,
although generically distinct from each other. Their principal external
characteristics are the webbed feet, each toe, _including the hind one_,
being connected by a membrane, the long and powerful wings, and the
strong beak. The young birds in this family are hatched naked and blind,
but soon become clothed with down. The first plumage differs
considerably from that of maturity, and the latter is not rarely
attained for several years. These birds have but one actual moult in the
year, in autumn, but just previous to the pairing season in winter,
crests in some species, and ornamental filaments and tufts in others,
are assumed, but are lost by abrasion during the ensuing breeding
period. Three members of this family are British, and breed abundantly
within our limits. Cormorants and Gannets are widely dispersed species;
the former are almost cosmopolitan, only being absent from the polar
regions and Polynesia; the latter are most abundant in the tropics and
the southern seas. A detailed account of the three British species will
now be given.
CORMORANT.
From the autumn onwards to the following spring, there are few parts of
the coast, indeed, where this bird, the _Phalacrocorax carbo_ of
ornithologists, may not be seen; whilst even in summer it is
sufficiently widely dispersed to merit us classing it as common. It is,
however, seldom seen off low-lying coasts, save after the breeding
season, or except such individuals as have not yet reached maturity.
There is but one other British species with which the Cormorant may be
confused, and that is the Shag; but even then the difference in size is
sufficiently great for the much larger Cormorant to be readily
identified. Very black, very heavy, and very clumsy the Cormorant looks,
as he rises in slow cumbersome flight from the sea, or unfolds his big,
bronzed-green wings, and flutters into the air from a rock shelf, or
sea-girdled pinnacle; but very soon one’s opinion of him undergoes a
change, as, when once fairly on his way, he passes swiftly enough over
the sea to a distant resting place, or after flying some distance,
pitches down into the water. The colours of the Cormorant are not seen
to best advantage at a distance. Certainly the prevailing colour is
black, but this is richly loricated with green and purple tints, whilst
most of the upper plumage of the body is a beautiful bronzy-brown, the
feathers being margined with soft velvety-black, shot with green; the
throat is white, as are also the sides of the head; whilst the bright
yellow gape and bare portions of the throat form a pleasing contrast to
the more sombre hues. As the breeding season approaches the Cormorant
increases in beauty; large white patches of silky feathers spring out
from the thighs, and the dark head and neck become covered by feathery
filaments of white. Perhaps the Cormorant is most interesting when
engaged searching for food. This bird obtains its food in various ways.
Most frequently of all, it swims to and fro, diving with a headlong
plunge at intervals; sometimes it swims with its body low in the water,
and the head and neck below the surface peering about in quest of fish.
Less frequently it takes up its station on a rock, or even on a tree,
from which it flies from time to time, Kingfisher-like, to capture a
fish near the surface; or occasionally it dives from such a situation,
and pursues its finny food far down into the crystal depths. The
Cormorant, however, never fishes like the Gannets and the Terns, by a
headlong plunge from the sky. This bird may often be met with fishing in
fresh-water some distance inland. Waterton records how it used to visit
his lake at Walton Hall; but the habits of the bird on sea and shore
shall exclusively claim our attention here. After a meal the Cormorant
is very fond of resorting to a rock to rest, and to dry its plumage,
standing perfectly motionless with its wings uplifted and outspread.
Few, if any, birds can excel the Cormorant in diving: it vies with the
very fish themselves, and seems as much at home beneath the surface of
the water as in the air. The Cormorant when taken young is easily tamed,
and from the earliest recorded times it has been trained to capture fish
for its owner. To this day the Chinese and Japanese train Cormorants for
this purpose. In England this sport was once a regal pleasure, the
Master of the Cormorants finding a place in the Royal household.
According to Professor Newton, the sport still lingers amongst a few.
Willughby asserts that the trained Cormorant was carried hooded until
cast off, but nowadays its bearer protects his eyes from a stroke from
the bird’s beak, with a wire mask. A strap or a ring is fastened round
the Cormorant’s neck, to prevent it swallowing its captures, just as we
muzzle a ferret to prevent it lying up. All who have witnessed this
novel way of fishing testify to the bird’s marvellous skill in catching
fish after fish, until the gular pouch will hold no more, when the
Cormorant is taken, and the fish removed. The food of this bird is
composed almost entirely of fish. In winter Cormorants become even more
gregarious, often associating in large flocks which wander far in quest
of food. This bird is not so completely pelagic in its habits as the
Auks, the Divers, and the Grebes. It generally retires to the caves and
shelves of the cliffs to sleep, whilst stormy weather will drive it
shorewards soon, where it will sit and mope on the rocks, or shelter in
the quiet creeks, or under the lee of cliffs, as if waiting for the sea
to subside, and allow of its labours being renewed.
As the Cormorant returns for years in succession to one particular spot
to breed, there can be little doubt that it pairs for life. The birds
begin to associate closely in pairs somewhat early in spring; but actual
nesting duties do not commence for a little time after that event. In
most places the Cormorant breeds in colonies, the size apparently
varying according to the amount of accommodation. For the present
purpose we need not describe in detail any of the inland nesting places
of this species, beyond remarking that the bird often breeds in trees
like Rooks, making a huge nest of sticks and twigs, lined with grass.
Upon the coast the favourite breeding resorts of the Cormorant are
ranges of lofty cliffs, and small low islands and reefs. The nest may
thus either be on the ground—as at the Farne Islands, for instance—or on
a ledge of the cliffs. When in the former situation it is generally
composed of masses of seaweed, stalks of marine plants, and lined with
green grass or other herbage. A Cormorant’s nesting place is by no means
a pleasant one for persons whose olfactory nerves are sensitive, the
smell from the decaying fish, and from the droppings of the birds, that
literally whitewash the whole vicinity, being sickening in the extreme.
Other sea fowl usually give these colonies a wide birth. The eggs are
from three to six in number, of a delicate bluish-green—where the colour
can be detected through the abundant coating of lime—small for the size
of the bird, and long and oval in shape. When disturbed the sitting
Cormorants make little demonstration, but fly out to sea at once. But
one brood is reared in the season, and the eggs are deposited during
April or May, in the British Islands. The Cormorant is a silent bird:
the only note I have ever heard it utter has been a croaking one at the
nest.
SHAG.
This species, the _Pelecanus graculus_ of Linnæus and Latham, and the
_Phalacrocorax graculus_ of most modern writers, is readily
distinguished from the Cormorant by its smaller size, more glossy
appearance, and much greener general colouration. The Shag differs
structurally from the Cormorant in possessing only twelve tail feathers,
the latter bird having fourteen. The nuptial ornaments are also very
different, for just previous to the pairing season, in early spring, a
nodding plume or frontal crest of recurved feathers is assumed. The Shag
is a much more marine bird than the Cormorant, and its appearance inland
is exceptional. Of the two species the Shag is certainly the commonest
and most widely dispersed, being met with off almost all parts of the
British coasts, but preference is shown for such as are rocky, and where
the ranges of cliffs are full of hollows and caves. Outside our islands
the range of the Shag is restricted to the coasts of western Europe, and
the Mediterranean basin. As a rule the Shag keeps well into the coast,
seeking for its food in the somewhat deep water below the rocks, and
retiring to some fissure or cave to sleep. Its habits in most respects
are very similar to the larger species. It flies well and rapidly, if in
a somewhat laboured manner, dives as skilfully as its ally, and often
indulges in the habit of sitting on the rocks with wings extended,
basking in the sun. It is equally gregarious during the non-breeding
season, and it is no uncommon thing to see a hundred or more birds of
this species sitting in solemn statuesque rows on some sea-encircled
rock, gorged with fish and digesting their food. At these gatherings
many birds may be noticed still fishing in the sea around, or flying up
to or leaving the rocky resting place. The young birds congregate
indiscriminately with the adults. A fishing Shag is a very interesting
object. He may be watched quietly swimming along, and every now and then
springing half out of the water, arching his long neck, and then diving
head first into the sea. Soon he reappears again, the body coming into
view all at once, it may be close to where he dived, or it may be fifty
or a hundred yards away from the spot where he descended. The Shag feeds
almost exclusively on fishes, and these are chased through the water
with incredible skill. The bird may thus be watched by the hour together
swimming and diving, propelling itself by its feet, and bringing the
captured fish to the surface to swallow them. At the approach of night
the Shag almost invariably betakes itself to the shelter of some cave or
fissure; and it is no uncommon sight along the rock-bound shore to see a
dozen of these birds hurrying along close to the sea in silence towards
the rocks where they sleep.
The Shag breeds in May. Its favourite nesting haunts are the caves and
fissures in the cliffs, but where such are wanting, or not available,
the bird will content itself with a cranny amongst the rocks of a low
island. If plenty of accommodation exists many pairs of Shags will nest
in company; where suitable sites are scarce the birds breed in scattered
pairs along the coast. It is more than probable that the Shag pairs for
life: it returns season by season to its old nesting-place. The nest of
this species is either wedged into some crevice of the sides or roof, or
made upon a ledge in a cave; sometimes a hole in the face of a wall-like
cliff is chosen; less frequently a site is selected amongst the rough
boulders on a reef; or even on a ledge of the cliffs where they overhang
considerably. In most cases the nest is bulky and made of sticks, stalks
of plants, and sea-weed, lined with straws, coarse grass, and turf, all
more or less matted together with droppings, decaying fish, and slime,
and smelling most unpleasantly. Many nests are enlarged and patched up
year by year. The two, three, or four eggs are a little smaller than
those of the Cormorant, of a delicate bluish-green where the thick
coating of lime does not conceal it. The Shag shows more reluctance to
leave its nest than the Cormorant does. The effect is most startling as
the big birds dash out of the gloomy sea caves one after the other. The
only note I have heard this species utter has been a low croak.
GANNET.
This remarkable bird differs in many important respects from all other
pelagic species inhabiting the temperate portions of the northern
hemisphere. Outside the limits of the British Islands its only other
breeding places in Europe are on Iceland and the Faröes. The Gannet or
Solan Goose, the _Sula bassana_ of Brisson and modern naturalists, is
one of the most pelagic of birds. Except during the breeding season it
is rarely seen near land, the thousands of birds that congregate in a
few chosen spots round the British coasts dispersing themselves far out
to sea as soon as the duties of the year are over. Like the Albatross,
the Gannet may almost be said to live in the air. Its powers of flight
are simply magnificent. Occasionally a few odd birds may be observed
here and there fishing in the bays, during autumn and winter; but the
person who would study its habits and movements thoroughly must visit
one of its breeding places. There are many colonies of Gannets round the
British coasts, one of the most accessible, and perhaps the most famous,
being on the Bass Rock, in the Firth of Forth. There are small ones on
Lundy Island and Grassholm; large ones on Suleskerry, Sulisker, St.
Kilda, Ailsa Craig, and Little Skellig. The adult plumage of the Gannet
is white, tinged with buff on the head and neck, except the primaries,
which are black. The bare skin round the base of the bill is blue. The
bird probably does not attain its white plumage until nearly four years
old, passing through a series of mottled stages of black, brown, and
white. The young are hatched blind and naked, but eventually become
clothed in dense white down. Other structural peculiarities are the
closed nostrils, and the subcutaneous air cells almost covering the
body, which the bird can fill with air at will, as they communicate with
the lungs. Whether seen at its nest, or when fishing at sea, the Gannet
is a remarkably interesting bird. As may naturally be inferred, a bird
so light and buoyant as the Gannet does not obtain its food by diving.
It is incapable of submerging itself even for a little distance, except
by gaining sufficient momentum from a plunge headlong from some distance
in the air. Nevertheless, the Gannet feeds exclusively on fishes, which
it catches almost like a Tern, by dropping from a great height and
seizing or impaling them with its strong bill. The Gannets follow the
shoals of fish as they swim near the surface. First one bird, and then
another, will be seen to poise itself, and then, with closed wings, to
dash downwards, glinting like a piece of white marble in the sun, into
the sea, disappearing for a moment, then rising again into the air to
prepare for another descent. Many Gannets at these times may, perhaps,
be seen swimming, but they are merely resting, not fishing. The captured
fish is invariably swallowed at once. The sitting birds are kept well
supplied with fish by their mates. These fish, however, are not conveyed
to them in the beak, but in the gullet, from which they are disgorged,
and left by the nest side to be eaten as required. Very often a Gannet
will disgorge several large fish before leaving its nest, whilst many
more fish are brought to the rocks than are actually eaten. The Gannet
is a voracious eater, and often so gorges itself with food as to be
incapable of flight. The power of wing of this beautiful bird is
wonderful in the extreme. I have seen the Gannet repeatedly keep the air
for hours together, apparently without effort, wheeling in graceful
curves, and ascending to vast heights, just as Vultures are wont to do.
Although the Gannet is a resident in British waters, it seldom comes
near land except to breed. During the nesting season it is very
gregarious, and some of its stations contain many thousands of pairs.
Early in the spring Gannets begin to assemble at the breeding places,
and towards the end of April nest building commences. The nests are made
either on the ledges of the cliffs, amongst the broken rock fragments at
the summit, or on the flat table-like tops of pinnacles and stacks.
Where the birds are numerous and the accommodation limited, great
numbers of nests are crowded together; and as may readily be inferred,
such close companionship leads to not a few battles between the birds
themselves. Indeed, a sort of guerrilla warfare is being waged
constantly, and is by no means one of the least interesting features of
the never-to-be-forgotten scene. The nest of the Gannet possesses little
architectural beauty, and is generally so trodden out of shape as to
resemble a mere heaped mass of rubbish, caked together with droppings,
and slime, and filth, giving off an almost unbearable stench, especially
on a calm hot day in May or June. Seaweed, masses of turf, straws, moss,
and stalks of marine plants are the principal materials. The nest is
shaped like a flattened cone, the cavity at the top being shallow. It is
no unusual thing to see the birds adding to their nests, even when
incubation is in progress. The Gannet lays but a single egg, but if this
be taken—as it often is, especially in colonies easily accessible to
man—the bird will replace it several times in succession. It is pale
bluish-green, but generally so thickly coated with chalky matter—and
later with stains—as to hide all trace of this colour. There are few
more noisy animated scenes in bird life than a Gannet colony, during the
height of the breeding season. The stirring sight once witnessed can
never be forgotten. The air, for many yards from the face of the cliffs
and high above it, is filled with thousands of flying Gannets; every
available spot, on the edges and face of the rock itself, is occupied by
a Gannet, the standing birds vieing with each other in uttering harsh
cries, the flying birds silently drifting to and fro in a mazy
bewildering throng. Many of the flying birds are carrying nest
materials; many of the birds standing on the rocks are fast asleep! On
every side the Gannets are eyeing you suspiciously, some disgorging fish
previous to taking wing, others barking defiance as you approach them,
and stubbornly remaining upon their egg until absolutely pushed from it.
Rock, sea, and air teem with birds. It will, however, be remarked that
none of the birds fly over the land; all keep to the face of the cliffs.
At the Bass Rock, numbers of young Gannets used to be taken for food,
the proprietor baking quantities, and selling them to the country people
round about. The taste for baked Solan Geese, however, is not so
prevalent as formerly, and the custom seems likely to die out. At St.
Kilda, however, the Gannet harvest still continues to be gathered, and
the young birds form a welcome article of food.
_Ducks, Geese, and Swans_
[Illustration: TUFTED DUCK. Chapter v.]