These birds usually assemble in flocks on the summits and inaccessible parts of the rocks which overhang or are surrounded by the sea, upon which the female makes her nest of the withered sea-tang, weeds, sticks, and grasses, which are cast on shore by the waves: she lays four or more greenish-white eggs, of the size of those of a goose, but of a longer shape. There are writers who assert that, in some parts of the world, they build their nests on trees, like the rook and the heron; other authors, stricken with the singular conformation of the feet and serrated claws, have ascribed properties to them which they do not possess, and believe that they hold their prey in one foot, while with the other they push forward to the shore, or carry it thither, in the same manner, on the wing; but this seems mere conjecture, for the feet of this tribe are not fitted for any such purpose; they are, like those of all the expert divers, placed far behind; and while, by the position of these, and the powerful strokes from their broad webs, the bird is enabled to pursue and overtake its slippery prey, the hooked, sharp-edged beak is the only fit instrument both to catch and to secure it; and there is no need to use the awkward expedient of removing it afterwards to the foot.
At sea, or on the inland lakes, they make terrible havoc. From the greatest height they drop down upon the object of pursuit, dive after it with the rapidity of a dart, and, with an almost unerring certainty, seize the victim; then emerging with the fish across the bill, with a kind of twirl, throw it up into the air, and, dexterously catching it head foremost, swallow it whole.
While at rest on the shore, commonly on the ledge of a projecting rock, these birds sit, more or less, in an erect posture, and are propped up by the stiff feathers of the tail; and in places where they have not experienced the fatal effects of the gun, they have been known, however wary at other times, to sit and receive repeated shots, without offering to move out of the danger. At other times and places, while they sit in a dosing and stupified state, from the effects of one of their customary surfeits, they may easily be taken, by throwing nets over them, or by putting a noose around their necks, which they avoid no further than by slipping the head from side to side as long as they can.
Notwithstanding the natural wildness of their disposition, it seems, according to some accounts, that certain species of these birds have formerly been tamed and rendered subservient to the purposes of man, both in this and other countries. Among the Chinese it is said they have frequently been trained to fish, and that some fishermen keep many of them for that purpose, by which they gain a livelihood. “A ring placed round the neck hinders the bird from swallowing; its natural appetite joins with the will of its master, and it instantly dives at the word of command; when, unable to gorge down the fish it has taken, it returns to the keeper, who secures it to himself. Sometimes, if the fish be too big for one to manage, two will act in concert, one taking it by the head and the other by the tail.” In England, according to Willoughby, “when they came to the rivers, they take off their hoods, and having tied a leather thong round the lower part of their necks, that they may not swallow down the fish they catch, they throw them into the river. They presently dive under water, and there for a time, with wonderful swiftness, they pursue the fish; and when they have caught them, they arise presently to the top of the water, and pressing the fish lightly with their bills, they swallow them, till each bird hath in this manner swallowed five or six fishes; then their keepers call them to the fist, to which they readily fly, and, little by little, one after another, vomit up all their fish, a little bruised with the nip they gave them with their bills. When they have done fishing, setting the birds on some high place, they loose the string from their necks, leaving the passage to the stomach free and open, and for their reward they throw them part of the prey they have caught, to each, perchance, one or two fishes, which they by the way, as they are falling in the air, will catch most dexterously in their mouths.”
Whitelock tells us “That he had a cast of them manned like hawks, which would come to hand.” He took much pleasure in them, and relates, that the best he had was one presented to him by Mr. Wood, Master of the Cormorants to Charles the First.
Dr. Heysham relates that, about the year 1759, one of these birds “perched upon the castle at Carlisle, and soon afterwards removed to the cathedral, where it was shot at upwards of twenty times without effect; at length a person got upon the cathedral, fired at, and killed it.” “In another instance, a flock of fifteen or twenty perched, at the dusk of evening, in a tree on the banks of the river Esk, near Netherby, the seat of Sir James Graham. A person who saw them settle, fired at random at them in the dark six or seven times, without either killing any or frightening them away: surprised at this, he came again, at day-light, and killed one, whereupon the rest took flight.”—Bewick—Latham—Willoughby, &c.
Corn, s. The seeds which grow in ears, not in pods; grain unreaped; grain in the ear, yet unthrashed; an excrescence on the foot, hard and painful.
Corns are a very common and a very troublesome disorder, and may truly be said to be often occasioned by the smith, being generally in consequence of bad shoeing. Corns most commonly happen in white feet with weak low heels; but they are too common in feet of all colours. They are occasioned by the pressure of the heel of the shoe, either by its bearing directly on the sole when it is too thin to bear the pressure, or by its forcing the heel of the crust inwards. In this way the sensible sole and laminæ are bruised, their blood-vessels ruptured, and the blood penetrates into the pores of the horn, causing the dark red appearance observable on removing the shoe, and scraping off the surface of the sole. This bruised part is exceedingly tender, and incapable of bearing the pressure of the shoe, and so are the crust and bar on each side of it. In the treatment of this complaint all this must be cut away, that is, all the parts must be so cut down, crust, bar, and sole, that when a bar shoe is applied it may be full half an inch distant from its surface. In this way a horse will be able to do his work, provided the shoe is removed, and the heel pared down as often as is necessary. As in this case the frog will be constantly receiving considerable pressure from the bar shoe, it is necessary to take care that the heels are not too thick and inflexible, in which case it is necessary to rasp them; and whenever there is a morbid degree of heat in the feet, or dryness, they should be kept constantly moist and cool in the stable, either by poultice or by several folds of old woollen wrapped round the coronet, and kept constantly wet. The common practice of pairing out the corn and leaving the bar and crust to be in contact with the heel of the shoe, is doing no good, nor would it afford even temporary relief, if the shoe were not bent up or made to bear off that quarter a little, as they term it; yet after riding a few miles the shoe is sure to yield to the horse’s weight, and bear upon the tender heel. It is thus that corns are made so troublesome as we find them, and many horses are rendered nearly unserviceable, or absolutely ruined by this improper treatment. Matter is often formed within the heel from this sort of management, and breaks out at the coronet, frequently doing great mischief, and even rendering the horse useless. When corns have been suffered to go this length the foot must be poulticed, and all the hollow horn cut away. After the inflammation has been thus completely subdued, the sensible parts which have been laid bare may be dressed with Friars’ balsam and the tar ointment. The radical cure of corns is always practicable if taken early, but in old cases the sensible parts will always remain in a tender state, however carefully they may be treated, and will always require the defence of the bar shoe, applied as I have described. A run at grass without shoes is a great relief to a horse with corns, provided the tender heel is cut down as I have described, and the heel and quarter rasped very thin. When a radical cure is attempted, this is the most likely means of effecting it.—White.
Corncrake. (Vide Landrail.)