Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-06-05
Geographic News
Bulletins by the
National Geographic Society


"JusI as Americans anus nota-
bles from abroad by showing them
round-ups in the o country, so
the japanese are able TO entertain
their visitors by initiating them into
the picturesque mysteries OF corIno-
rant nshlng In TIMER back country"
says a bulletin ISSUED from the
Washington, ~. c., headquarters oI
the National Geographic society.
continuing in a description OF the
queer method OIL 1shlng with trained
birds recently exhibited for the
Prince oil Wales, the bulletin says:
Fishing with trained cormorants
seems to be as ancient as japanese
history, for an old poem in regard
to the hrst emperor mentions the
sport. Today the method Is EN-
ployed in relatively few places in
the Istanus, and Is at its best in the
Niagara River, near the city OF Gitu,
about $50 miles west of TOXIC. The
nshingis done only at night the dark
Ell the better. Moonlight seasons are
on periods, n II is useless to take
the cormorants out except before
the moon rises or after 1t sets. This
is because artificial light, furnished
by blazing pine faggots in metal
baskets hung from the bows OF the
long narrow nshing boats, is an i'm
portant factor in the procedure.
The nsh are attracted by the glare,
and when they rise near the boats
the cormorants reap a rich, quick
harvest.
Look Awkward-Dive Like u Flash
THE birds that play the stellar
role in this queer sport-industry are
like large, black, awkward-looking
| ducks. But their apparent awk-
wardness is highly deceptive; and
they possess a marked degree of in
telligence. Placed in the water,
They div like a flash; and dart as
he may, the nearby fish once sight
ed is almost sure to wind up in a
twinkling in an unerring gullet that
pursues him.
But catching Is o keeping for
the cormorants. Each bird has a
cord attached from near h base
| of his wings, the other end held,
in common with the leashes OF per-
haps eleven other birds, by a deft-
fingered Japanese in the boat.
About the lower portion OF the
throat of each feathered fisherman
is an adjustable metal collar. This
is loose enough to permit the pass
age of very small fish, but not those
of a marketable size. Above the
COlldI INT ldi 6Ci NON paw ePb
banding the elastic gullet. until
four TO eight have accumulated
Then the bird is towed to the boat.
placed over a basket, and the fish
gently pressed from his throat and
mouth. A few less considerate mas
ters unceremoniously turn the birds
upside down and shake out the
catch. In an expedition lasting
three or four hours one bird may
catch as many as $50 fish.
Keen as Pointer Dogs
The birds are as keen for their
work as pointer dogs. They dart
about with the greatest enthusiasm,
croaking as they dive or when they
come momentarily to the surface
to swallow their prey. Their active
life is about twelve years. The
senior of the flock is known as
Number / and has the position OF
honor near the bow of the boat pre-
pared for action. The other birds
are ranged in order of seniority al
ternately on the sides of the boat.
The birds know the order in which
they are to be placed In the water
and taken out, and II the proper
order is departed from they make
noisy protest.
after the nights work Is over
the nSnefmen cOme INTO
their reward. The fish are sorted
and all small ones are fed to the
cormorants, whose collars have been
removed. They catch their food on
the fly as it is tossed to them, for
all the world like a pack of hun
cry hounds about a farmhouse
door. In feeding as In all the other
routine of handling the birds. the
senior member of the flock must be
fed first and the others in order. or
their resentment is shown at once.
Sport Once Known in West
The fish caught by means OF the
trained cormorants are a sort of
dwarf salmon, called ayu, compar-
able in size to smelts. They run UP
the river in spring like salmon to
spawn. When these little fish are
fried to golden crispness their flavor
and delicacy is unsurpassed. They
are in such high favor that a con-
siderable area of the fishing
ground on the Niagara River Is re-
served for imperial use. and special
cormorants and their masters are
employed to keep the tables Of the
emperor supplied during the season.
Fishing with cormorants is also
practiced in some parts of China,
but there the fishing Is almost en-
tirely commercial with little of the
sport aspect. The sport was known
in the west early in the seventeenth
century, and James l.. of England,
had among his officials a Master of
Cormorants' just as he had a fall