The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1886-12-04
A BABY coRMoRANT.

Here / sit in my nest Of sea-weed,
waiting for my dinner You may call
me Tom All-alone, If you like; but in an
other fortnight you won sec me on this
rock, for then shall be able to fly off
and provide for myself. You want to
know my real namcp Well, I'm cor
morant, and am given to understand
that that word means sea-cow. l
daresay that is quite right, though l can
not be said to bear any resemblance to
your old friend Jim.
l am fond of eating. People soy
that cormorants are great and greedy
caters, and they are not far wrong.
We kill q tremendous qusntity Of
fishes, and for that reason
are not popular in many To-
calities inland places especially. That
is why, as Il rule, we prefer to live by
the ocean, where our finny prey are
plentiful. and there is no one to COM
plain of our taking just as many Of them
us we please; but case is recorded of
If some of our folk settling in the mid
die of town. and choosing the church
tower for their headquarters.
think that the cormorants may be
proud of the way in which they sustain
The good name of the bird for intel
pee; us to be skilful at fishing for others,
see ng that we are so fond of eating all
that we catch. understand that our
Chinese brothers are regularly famed
and trained TO fish for man. This train
ing begins from their infancy. They
have hardly left the shell before they
are taken to tho water and taught to do
what their master tells them. and to
bring to him the fishes which they
capture.
The Chinaman goes out on the water
on bamboo raft, which he drives about
with paddle and each raft carries
three or four cormorants. The only in
timat on that the bird gets when it is
wanted to angle is a rough push off the
raft. Should it be unwilling or too
lazy to fish, the man strikes tho water
with his paddle. or else gives the cormo-
rant tap with it, whereupon it dives to
escape the blows. AS soon as it secures
IL fish it rises to the surface. and. natu-
rally enough, tries to swallow is vic
tim. But, of course, John Chinaman
has no intention to allow it 10 enjoy the
fruits of its labor. How does he pre-
vent thisp Wise rs we are. man is wiser;
and so the cunning raftsman ties a
string, or fastens metal ring. round
the BIRDS neck, which prevents il from
swallowing any but the smallest
fishes. The cormorant either brings its
prey to the raft, or else the raft is
swiftly padded towards it lest the fish
escape, for the bird has often tough
struggle before it catches large fish.
A net is cleverly thrown over the b rd,
and it is hauled on the raft. The fish is
then forced from its grasp and pitched
INTO big basket, while the cormorant
is rewarded with mouthful of food, of
which it is enable to partakc by the ring
being rascd.
Sometimes bird will make an at
tempt to escape. In this case the China
man paddles nftcr it and soon overtakes
it. But in order to crush these efforts
after freedom. it is often the custom to
chain the cormorant TO the raft. have
heard that two of the birds will quar-
rel for tho fish that one OF
them has caught, and that the unsuc-
cessful angler will Mt times chase the
more fortunate BIRD and try to deprive
it of its victim. This proves they are
capable Of rivalry, and even of jealousy.
These fishing exploits generally attract
crowds of human spectators, who shout
out loudly ut the smart pieces of angling.
have no ambition to bc % trained fish
CT, for. after all, it is slavery us com.
pared with the life of tho wild cormo-
rants, who can fish in the sea the whole
day if they choose, and only for them
selves and their children.
have heard there are colonies of cor
morants on some of the islands of the
Danube river. A party of sportsmen
once visited them, and were received
with shouts Of laughter by the older
birds, and with whstling noises by the
younger. Their nerves were upset,
however,. by shot, which made them
dart from their nests with the
speed of arrows. The observers having
hidden themselves among tho bushes.
the BIRDS cautiously returned, first flying
round and round ut q great height. spy
ing whether tho enemy had gone, and
then flying to their nests with the same
svddcn rapidty. Despite all their care,
n number OF them were shot. The
wounded defended themselves with
marked courage. sending u dog off
bowling with pain. biting one man
through his trousers. and nearly blind
ing another by striking him between
his eyes.
Battles, stubbornly contested, often
take place between comorants and
herons, when the former try to drive
the latter from their heronries. This
comes of their leaving the sea and seek
ing to take up their dwellings inland.
Rookeres, too, are attackcd; but
the rocks lre no match for
their powerful invaders. Four pairs
OF cormorants once dispossessod tho
herOns OF their nests in II high beech
tree in Dutzcnburg. In the autumn of
the same year their number had grown
to thirty. Next spring, and for many
springs afterward, they came back in
ever increasing crowds. till, il was esti-
mated, ut least seven thousand pairs
afflicted tho district. Fifty nests were
counted in ono tree. Tho mob con-
stantly flying to and from the sea dark
encd the mir, and their nose was deafcn-
ing. 1t cost the natives several years of
hard labor TO get rid of tho pest the
birds being ultimately either killed OF
driven away.
Wo are splendid swimmers, no bird
excclling MS in this respect. A boat,
manned by the stoutest rowers OF man
] Of-War would not avartaLa fns Whan