THE CORMORANT, (Phalacrocorax carbo,)
Is a large water-bird, nearly allied to the pelican, possessed with a very voracious appetite, and consequently of a very rapacious disposition. It lives upon all sorts of fish; the fresh water and the briny waves of the sea both paying a large contribution to its craving stomach. The bill is about five inches in length, and of a dusky colour; the predominant tints of the body are black beneath, and dark brown above; on each thigh there is a white patch. The smell of these birds when alive is excessively rank and disagreeable; and their flesh is so disgusting that even the Greenlanders, among whom they are very common, will scarcely eat it. They were formerly tamed in England for the purpose of catching fish, as falcons and hawks were for chasing the fleet inhabitants of the air. This custom is still in practice in China. The birds are taken to the water in a boat, with leather thongs tied round their necks to prevent their swallowing the fish; at the word of command they descend into the water, swim about, and dive in pursuit of prey, and bring whatever they capture to their owner’s boat. Sometimes two Cormorants will unite their efforts to capture a large fish; and if any of the birds neglect their business the man will slap on the water with a bamboo, as a schoolmaster does with his cane on the desk, to recall the idlers to a sense of their duty. This bird, although of the aquatic kind, is often seen, like the pelican, perched upon trees. Milton tells us that Satan
“—— —— —— On the tree of life,
The middle tree, and highest there that grew,
Sat like a Cormorant.”
In the year 1793, one of them was observed sitting on the vane of St. Martin’s steeple, Ludgate Hill, London, and was shot there in the presence of a great number of people.