Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1886-12-16
A BABY CORMORANT.

Way OF ishing-A Great Colony OF HIS
Kind on the Danube River.
Here I 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't see me on this
rock, for then shall be able to fly off
and provide for myself. You want to
know my real name? Well, I'm cor
morant, and am given to understand
that that word means sea-cow.
daresay that is quite right, though can
not be said to bear any resemblance to
your old friend Jim.
l am fond of eating. People say
that cormorants are great and greedy
caters, and they are not far wrong.
We kill tremendous quantity of
fishes, and for that reason
are not popular in many To-
calities-inland places especially. That
is why, as 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 rs many of them
as we please; but case is recorded of
of some of our folk settling in the mid
die of a 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
ligence. Though you would not ex-
pect us to be skilful at fishing for others,
see ng that we are SO fond of eating all
that we catch, l understand that our
Chinese brothers are regularly tanned
and trained TO fish for man. This train
ing begins from their infancy. They
have hardly left the shell before they
are taken to the 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 a bamboo raft, which he drives about
with q 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 the water
with his paddle, or else gives the cormo-
rant Il tap with it, whereupon it divestO
escape the blows. As soon as it secures
fish it rises to the surface, and, natu-
rally enough, tries to swallow its vic
tim. But, of course, John Chinaman
has no intention to allow it TO enjoy the
fruits of its labor. How does he pre-
vent this? Wise as we are, man is wiser;
and so the cunning raftsman ties a
string, or fastens a metal ring, round
the BIRDS neck, which prevents it from
swallowing any but the smallest
ga
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 clcyerly thrown over the bird,
and it is hauled on the raft. The fish is
then forced from its grasp and pitched
into a big basket, while the cormorant
is rewarded with a mouthful of food, of
which it is enable to partake by the ring
being IA SD.
Sometimes bird will make an at
tempt to escape. In this case the China
man paddles after 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 the fish that one OF
them has caught. and that the unsuc-
cessful angler will ut 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 at the smart pieces of angling.
] have no ambition 10 be a trained fish
e. Ill IL
pared with the life of the 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 whistling 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 the bushes,
the birds cautiously returned, first flying
round and round at a great height. spy
ing whether the enemy had gone, and
then flying to their nests with the same
sudden rapidity. Despite all their care,
number of them were shot. The
wounded defended themselves with
marked courage, sending 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.
Rookeries, too, are attacked; but
the rocks are no match for
their powerful invaders. Four pairs
of cormorants once dispossessed the
herons of their nests in a high beech
tree in Dutzenburg. In the autumn of
the same year their number had grown
TO thirty Next spring, and for many