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.