Cassell's book of birds; vol. 4

by Alfred Edmund Brehm

The CORMORANTS PROPER (Phalacrocorax) differ from the Snake Birds principally in their more bulky shape and in the construction of their bill. Their beak, which is of moderate length,[Pg 231] is compressed at the sides, rounded above, furrowed at the sides of the upper mandible, bent downwards and strongly hooked at its tip. The legs are strong, and wings short, with the third quill longer than the rest. The tail consists of twelve feathers, and is shorter than that of the Darters. The Cormorants are met with from the middle of Norway to the south of Europe, and during the winter resort in countless multitudes to Africa. They are also very abundant in Central Asia and North America, whence they wander as far as the West Indies. The habitat of these birds is either the sea or fresh water, according to circumstances. They frequently resort to large rivers or lakes thickly skirted with trees, and sometimes make their appearance in inhabited districts, from which it is difficult to drive them away. An instance is even recorded in which they took up their quarters in the centre of a town, selecting the church tower for their citadel. They visit the sea in great numbers, and there seem to prefer certain localities, generally selecting a situation where the coast is but little accessible or where there are long reefs and ridges of rock. They are very abundant on the coast of Scandinavia, as also in Iceland, the Faroe Islands, the Hebrides, Orkneys, and other similar localities where they are little disturbed by mankind. During the winter season they are met with in equal abundance in more southern districts. In Greece they may be seen in great numbers from one year's end to another, both upon the large lakes and in the sea. In Egypt, they cover the lakes near the shore, as far as the eye can reach, whence they every morning fly out to sea in countless multitudes, returning in the evening. In Southern China and in India they are equally numerous. Indeed, it may be said that they are met with in every locality where water and fishes are to be had. In their habits and mode of life the Cormorants present many peculiarities. They are very sociable, and generally keep together in flights that are more or less numerous. It is a rare occurrence to see one of them alone. During the morning they are always indefatigably employed in fishing; about noon they betake themselves to repose, and digest their food; towards evening they are again busy fishing, and afterwards they resort to the places where they sleep. These are generally lofty trees, growing at some little distance inland upon islands in rivers or lakes, the same upon which they subsequently build their nests; they are generally such as afford them an extensive prospect in every direction, and allow them to fly away and return with facility. The islands thus frequented are easily recognisable at a distance by the thick covering of nascent guano by which the ground is everywhere hidden; indeed, they would soon literally become beds of that material had it a Peruvian sun to dry, or as Scheffel says, "purify" it. Similar deposits are likewise to be seen on islands in the sea, which seldom fail to arrest the attention of the passing mariner. Their history, however, is quite intelligible, and their appearance remarkable when they are densely covered with Cormorants, sitting in close ranks like regiments of soldiers, tier above tier, all turned in the same direction with their faces towards the sea; thus presenting a strangely picturesque scene, for although they are stationary, they are by no means motionless; each of them is constantly moving its head, spreading its tail, or stretching out its wings, so as to give an appearance of animation to the whole assemblage. For a single individual among them to remove from the place where it stands without flying away altogether is an impossibility, so densely are they crowded together. It is asserted by some that these birds can only walk while propping themselves up with their tails; this, however, is not correct; their walk, it is true, is but a clumsy waddle, still it enables them to get over the ground with tolerable quickness. Upon the branches of trees the Cormorants are much more at home than on level ground; nevertheless, like the Snake-necks it is only when swimming or diving in the water that they show their real capabilities. Should a boat approach the rock upon which hundreds of them have taken their station, they first begin to show symptoms of uneasiness by stretching out their necks and moving their heads; they then begin a sort of restless shuffling backwards and forwards, and ultimately they take flight; a few of the assembled multitude rise into[Pg 232] the air, flying at first with fluttering wings, but they soon sweep away, gliding straight forward to a considerable distance, or rise upwards in circles high into the air; the majority of them, however, spring at once into the sea, like so many frogs. Here they instantly dive, and when they come up again may be seen a considerable distance off, peering at the boat with their little green eyes and ready to dive again, in an instant, should they think such a course conducive to their safety. The Darters unquestionably swim and dive more dexterously, but it is questionable whether any other birds can excel the Cormorants in this respect. They progress so rapidly under the water, that a boat manned with strong rowers is unable to overtake them; they dive likewise not only to a great distance, but to a considerable depth, and when they come up, they simply take breath and at once dive again. When chasing their prey beneath the surface they stretch their bodies quite straight, and by powerful strokes of their feet, dart through the water with arrow-like swiftness.

That these birds possess a good deal of intelligence is proved by the fact that in China great numbers of tame Cormorants are taught to catch fish for the benefit of their owners. Fortune was informed by one of these Chinese fishermen that the birds so employed are kept in a state of captivity from the moment of their birth, and that the eggs from which they are obtained are incubated by barn-door fowls. When old enough they are taken to the water-side, and there carefully taught to obey their master's commands, and to bring to him the fishes that they procure. Upon inland waters the presence of Cormorants is a very serious matter, seeing that they destroy the fish in incredible quantities. Their voracity is almost beyond belief; a single Cormorant, when it can get them, will eat as many fishes as a Pelican. Although Cormorants generally prefer to build their nests upon trees, when these are not to be found they content themselves with cavities and projections among rocks or places of a similar description. In inland situations, or where the woods come down almost to the sea, they often make their appearance in rookeries and heronries, and after expelling the Rooks with little trouble, and the Herons after long-contested battles, proceed to take possession of their nests, to which they add a few materials of their own selection, and at once begin to lay their eggs. Should they remain in undisturbed possession of the invaded locality for a year or two, they are only to be got rid of with the greatest difficulty. In the year 1812, says Naumann, four pairs of Cormorants made their appearance in Lutzenburg, not far from the sea-coast, and built their nests in a wood upon a very high beech-tree, which had been for several years the resort of Rooks and Herons. After driving away the Herons, whose nests they took possession of, they each proceeded to rear two broods, one in May, the other in July, and when they left the place about the end of autumn, they numbered about thirty individuals. In the spring of the following year, these repeated their visit, and continued to return every year in still increasing numbers, until it was estimated that there were at least 7,000 brooding pairs assembled in the neighbourhood. Boje counted fifty of their nests in a single tree, the multitudes of them constantly flying to the sea and returning again seemed to fill the air, and the noise they made was positively deafening; the trees upon which they assembled were white with filth, and the whole place stank in consequence of the quantities of putrid fishes fallen from their nests. It was only after several years of unabated exertion that they were at length destroyed or driven away.

The Cormorants generally make their appearance in their breeding-places in April, and set about preparing their nests with great zeal. Towards the end of the month, they lay three or four narrow eggs, of a blueish green colour, but generally incrusted with calcareous deposit. The two sexes sit by turns for about four weeks, and when the young are hatched feed them with indefatigable perseverance. Being thus abundantly provided for, the nestlings grow rapidly; the old birds behave very affectionately towards their progeny, but when danger threatens will not stay to defend them, at least from their human enemies. Whenever the old birds visit their nests, they are literally full to[Pg 233] the throat with the food that they have procured; each of them disgorges on the borders of the nest several dozens of small fishes, which are immediately appropriated by the hungry occupants. Many, however, fall upon the ground, and as no Cormorant thinks it worth while to pick them up, they are left to taint the atmosphere. Towards the end of June the young birds fly away, and the old ones begin to rear a second brood. The chase after Cormorants is a very favourite amusement with the zealous sportsman, although the birds when killed are of no use whatever. Their watchfulness and cunning when they are at large are calculated to test his utmost perseverance and caution. Near the trees where they build their nests, however, they are very much more easily destroyed, and still more readily in their eyries; their destruction, indeed, is so simple that it becomes almost a matter of necessity. But here the sport loses its charms, and the battues that are organised against them assume very much the appearance of a massacre; every one who can procure a gun hastens to the scene of action, and multitudes of the birds are annually slaughtered. In this country the flesh of the Cormorant is regarded as uneatable; the Laplanders, however, and also the Arabs, are of a very different opinion, and consider it, on account of its fatness, to be an especially dainty kind of food.

THE CORMORANT (Phalacrocorax carbo). ONE-FIFTH NATURAL SIZE.

[Pg 234]

THE COMMON CORMORANT.

The COMMON CORMORANT (Phalacrocorax carbo) is from thirty-five to thirty-seven inches long, and from sixty to sixty-four broad. The length of wing is fourteen to fifteen inches, and of tail six and a half to seven inches. The plumage on the top of head, neck, breast, belly, and rump is of a glossy blackish green, with a slight metallic lustre. The fore part of the back and upper surface of the wings brown with a bronze shade. Owing to the dark margins of the feathers, these parts have the appearance of being imbricated: quills and tail-feathers black; a white patch commencing behind the eye surrounds the throat. The eye is sea-green; beak black, with yellowish base; the bare skin on neck and face is yellow; and foot black. During the breeding season the Cormorants, more especially the males, have delicate white feathers on the head; these, however, soon disappear. The young are more or less grey; the upper parts of the body being dark, with the imbricated appearance above alluded to; the under side is yellowish or light grey. This species is commonly found on all the rocky parts of the British coast. The nests are placed on high cliffs, many birds congregating together and living harmoniously. The nest is large, and composed of sticks and a mass of coarse grass and seaweed, sometimes a foot high. The rough oblong eggs are from four to six in number, of a chalky white and pale blue colour. In the course of a few days after hatching, the young are able to take to the water. "These birds," says Yarrell, "are frequently seen sitting on posts, rails, or leafless trees by the water-side, when, if a fish should move on the surface within their sight, it is pounced upon and caught to a certainty. An eel is a favourite morsel with him, and a Cormorant has been seen to pick up an eel from the mud, return to the rail he was previously sitting upon, strike the eel three or four hard blows against the rail, toss it up into the air, and, catching it by the head in its fall, swallow it in an instant."

"In China the bridges across the Min, at Fuhchau, may often be seen crowded with men viewing the feats of the tame fishing Cormorants. These birds look at a distance about the size of a Goose, and are of a dark dirty colour. The fisherman who has charge of them stands upon a raft, about two feet and a half wide and fifteen or twenty feet long, made out of five large bamboos of similar size and shape, firmly fastened together. It is very light, and is propelled by a paddle. A basket is placed on it to contain the fish when caught. Each raft has three or four Cormorants connected with it. When not fishing they crouch down stupidly on the raft.

"The fisherman, when he wishes to make a Cormorant fish, pushes or throws it off the raft into the water. If it is not disposed at once to dive and seek for fish, he beats the water with his paddle, or sometimes strikes the bird, so that it is glad to dive and get out of his reach. When it has caught a fish it rises to the surface, holding it in its mouth, and apparently striving to swallow it. A string tied loosely around its neck or a metallic ring effectually prevents swallowing, except perhaps in the case of very small fish. It usually swims directly for the raft. The fisherman on seeing the prize paddles towards it with all speed, lest it should escape from the bird. Sometimes the fish is a large one, and there is evidently a struggle between it and the Cormorant. The fisherman, when near enough, dexterously passes a net-like bag, fastened to the end of a pole, over the two, and draws them both on the raft. He then forces the fish from the grasp of the bird, and, as if to reward the latter for its cleverness and success, gives it a mouthful of food, which it is enabled to swallow on his raising the ring from the lower part of its neck. The bird, if apparently tired out, is allowed to rest awhile on the raft, and then it is pushed off again into the water and made to dive and hunt for fish as before. Sometimes the Cormorant, from imperfect training, swims away from the raft with the fish it has caught. In such a case the fisherman pursues and speedily overtakes the truant. Sometimes, it is reported, two or three Cormorants assist in securing a large and powerful fish, and occasionally two[Pg 235] quarrel together for the fish one has taken, or one pursues the other for the fish in its mouth. At such times the interest of the spectators on the bridge increases to noisy shouting. The bird is provided with a sort of pouch or large throat, in which the small fish are entirely concealed, while the head or tail of the larger fish protrudes from its mouth. It is only at or near full tide that these birds are successful in catching fish under and near the bridges, as then the water is deep and comparatively still, and the fish seem to abound in the vicinity more than at low-tide. At such times there are frequently several rafts with Cormorants fishing near the bridges. The skill of the fisherman in propelling his craft, and the success of the bird in catching the fish are attested by the delighted curiosity and animated interest of the spectators."