The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1886-12-02
A BABY CORMORANT.


waiting for my dinner. You may call
me Tom All-alone, if you ike; but in an
other fortnight you wOn'tSee 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 a 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
eaters, and they are not far wrong.
We kill tremendous quantity of
! fishes, anl for that reason
are not popular in many To-
calities 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 as many of them
as we please; but'a case is recorded of
of some of onr 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 naRle OF the BIRD for intel
ligence. Though You would not ex-
pect us to be skilful at fiShlnrfor Others,
see ne that we are SO fond of eating all
that we catch, | understand that our
Chinese brothers are regularly tanned
and trained 10 fish for man. This train
ing begins from their infancy. They
have hardly left the shell before they
are taken toGlie water and taught to do
what their master tells them, and to
bring to him the fishes which they
capture.
The ChinSman 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
tinat: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 a tap with it, whereupOn it dives to
escape the blows. As soon as il secures
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 TO enjoy the
fruits of its labor. How does he pre-
vent this? Wise as Wezare, manis wiser;
and so the cunning raftsman ties g
string, or fastens a metal ring, round
the BIRDS neck, which prevents it from
swallowing any but the smallest
fishes. The; cormOrant either brings its
prev TO the raft, or else the raft is
swiftly padded towards it lest the fish
escape, for the bird has often a tough
struggle before it catches large fish.
A net is cleverly thrown over the b I'd,
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 a mouthful of food, of
which it is enable to partake by the ring
being raised
Sometimes a 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 viii quar-
rel for the fish that one OF
them has caught. and that the unsucl
cessful angler will at 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 humsn spectators, who shout
out loudly at the smart pieces of angling.
i have no ambition to be a trained fish
er, for. after all, 1t is slavery as con-
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 colon ies 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 wh.stling noises by the
younger. Their nerves were upset,
however, ; by shot. which male them
dart from their nests with the |
speed of arrows. The Observers having
hiddeA themselves among the bushes.
the birds cautiously returned, first flying
round and round at great height. spy
ing whether the enemy had, cone, and
then flying to their nests with The same
sudden rapidly. Despite all their care,
a number of them were shot The
wounded defended themselves with
marked courage, sending dog of
bowling with. pain, biting one man
through his trousers, and nearly blind
ing another BY striking him betweens
his eyes. II
Battles, stubbornly contested, often
Lske 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
heir powerful invaders. Four pairs
Of cormorants once dispossessed the
lerons of their nests in a high beech
rec in Dutzenburg. In the autumn of
he same year their numEer had grown