Such is Colonel Montagu's description of a pair shot from the nest, but they vary in plumage and colour. In habit the Shag is strictly a salt-water bird, never visiting fresh water, breeding on our rocky coasts, where it builds a nest of stick and sea-weed. They resort to the maritime caves of the Hebrides in such vast numbers that they literally cover the sea to a considerable extent when on their passage from the caves of Liuir and Toehead to their fishing-grounds in the sound. Mr. McGillivray has counted a hundred and five in one flock. This picture Mr. McGillivray makes the text for one of his most delightful descriptions:—
"There is a large cave," he says, "on the west coast of Harris, celebrated for the number of Shags which reside on it, and so lofty that a boat can enter it to a considerable distance with lowering the masts. When we appear off the mouth of the cave a considerable number appear conspicuously perched on the little shelving rocks and projections, their dusky figures strongly relieved by the whitened surface of the rocks. Some of them fly overhead as we approach, but more drop into the water like a stone. On looking down we see them rapidly winding their way under the boat, swimming with outspread wings, and not at all in the manner represented by some writers, who say that it propels itself entirely under water by the feet and tail. Glancing aloft, we see many Black Guillemots in the clefts; and above them is the eyrie of the White-tailed Eagle. But our business is with the Shags, which are now seen writhing their long necks as they gaze upon us. Presently a shot is fired, and another; the dead birds drop on the water, the living plunge headlong into it, many advance on the wing, but, being frightened by the upraised oars, dart into the water.
"Advancing a little, we find that many still remain on the rocks; of these we shoot some more. Presently some of those which had escaped return, and perch; and we continue shooting until we have obtained as many as we desire. After all the uproar we have created, several still remain standing near their nests, loath to quit them. Although most of the nests are out of reach, some are accessible. We find them generally bulky, sometimes very scanty, formed of fuci, twigs, heath, and grass rudely put together, made flat, or with a shallow cavity, containing two, frequently three, sometimes four eggs, never more."
This bird has black plumage, as we have seen, is smaller than the one preceding, and inhabits the Arctic and Antarctic regions. A bird nearly resembling this (Phalacrocorax Desmarestii) is described by Temminck and figured by Gould, a species which has been observed in Corsica, and is of a blackish green. Montagu satisfied himself that the Crested Cormorant was only a seasonal variety of the Common Cormorant; and probably others of the species described, if carefully examined, would prove to be the same. McGillivray is of opinion, however, if Mr. Gould's figure is correct, the species must be distinct.
Pelicanidæ.
A comprehensive group of aquatic birds presenting a uniformity of structure quite apparent in the skeleton, and especially in the digestive organs, of which the Pelican is the type. They are mostly birds of large size, but of slender, elongated body, long neck, and head generally of moderate size. The bill is long, sometimes slender, at other times rather stout and straight; the upper mandible with the ridge separated by grooves, and terminated in a narrow, decurved, and pointed nail, or claw; the lower mandible elastic and extensible. The plumage is soft and blending, on the back and wings compact and imbricated; wings long, tail of moderate length and narrow.
The habits of the group vary considerably. Cormorants pursue their prey much in the same manner as Mergansers and Loons; the Anhingas are strictly territorial; the Pelicans combine the habits of both. The Gannets fly about in quest of food, plunging upon it from on high. The Frigate Birds range over the seas with unrivalled power of flight, and the Tropic Birds resemble in progression the Terns. The family comprises—
1. Pelicans. 2. Cormorants. 3. Gannets. 4. Phaetons. 5. Anhingas.
The Pelican ([Fig. 105]) has the bill long, straight, rather broad, and very much depressed; upper mandible flattened, terminating in a hooked tip much bent and compressed; lower mandible formed of two bony branches united at the point, from which a membranous naked skin is suspended, forming a purse, which can be distended into a voluminous bag. The Pelicans are large, heavy aquatic birds, with great extent of wing, and are excellent swimmers; their haunts are estuaries, the sea-coast, and the banks of rivers, lakes, and marshes. In its habitat, whenever a fish betrays its presence by leaping or flashing its glittering scales in the sun, the Pelican will be seen sailing towards it.
This bird has an appetite so insatiable, and a stomach so capacious, that, in one day's fishing, it devours as much fish as would satisfy six men. The Egyptians have nicknamed it the "River Camel," because it can imbibe at once more than twenty pints of water. Certainly it only makes two meals a day; but, oh! what meals they are!