CORMORANT (Fr. cormo•an, It. corro ma ; in from corro, crow, and merino, marine; cf. Bret. mo•rran, cormorant, from mo•, Lat. MOM, sea + bran, crow). A group of web-footed birds comprising the steganopode family Phalacrocora cidx, characterized especially by a bare dilat able membrane beneath the lower mandible, but not in the form of a sac under the throat as in the pelicans; a compressed bill, rounded above, and with a strong hook at the point of the up per mandible: the nostrils linear, and seemingly impervious to air; the claw of the middle toe serrated, used in trimming the plumage; the wings of moderate length: the tail rounded, the feathers stiff and rigid, and used to aid in walk ing or climbing. The species are distributed over the coasts of most parts of the world, some of them ascending rivers and even visiting fresh water lakes in pursuit of fish, on which all of these birds subsist exclusively.
Cormorants are proverbially voracious. They do not take their prey by diving, when on the wing, but pursue it by swimming and diving, us ing their wings in progress under water, and sometimes descending to a great depth; a British species has been caught in a crab-pot fastened 120 feet under water. When the prey has been taken in a manner inconvenient for swallowing. they toss it in the air and adroitly catch it as it descends. The behavior of cormorants in fishing and toward each other in their colonies has been described at length by E. Selous in Bird 'Watching (London, 1901). Some of the species frequent high rocks, others low islands, on which they make rude nests, chiefly of seaweed and almost always in colonies: some perch and eveu build their nests on mangroves and other seaside trees. Their greenish-blue eggs are covered with a calcareous incrustation. The flesh of all species is dark and of a tishy taste. but is sometimes used as food. particularly that of young birds.
There are described about twenty-five well defined species. of which seven are found in North America. The commonest is the double crested cormorant (Fhalacrocorax dilophus), so called from the lateral crest of curly feathers on the sides of the head, and present throughout North .America. The 'common' cormorant (Pha
lacrocorax carbo) occurs abundantly on both sides of the Atlantic, especially northward, while on the Pacific Coast three species are numerous— the tufted cormorant ( Ph a la crocorax pcnicii lat us). the red-faced cormorant (Phalaerocoras icrist a t us), and the violet-green comorant ( Phu lacrocorax riolaccus); the two latter are espe cially characteristic of Alaska. The British species are the 'common' cormorant, which is about 33 inches long and almost of a black color, but during the breeding season exhibits a sprink ling of elongated white and almost bristly feathers on the head and back of the neck; and the green cormorant, or 'shag' (Phalacrocorax graculus), which is smaller and dark-green. Two notable species are Pallas's cormorant, now extinct (see EXTINCT ANIMALS), and Harris's, the surf-fish ing. flightless species of the Galapagos Islands, which is exceedingly rare, of great size, and has wings useful only as fins. See FLIGHTLESS BIRDS.
Fishing with. cormorants is a very ancient practice, still regularly followed among the Chi nese and .Japanese, and lately revived as a sport in Great Britain. The birds are taken from the nest when young, and are easily tamed and trained; or old cormorants may be trapped and taught to serve. They are kept for a while and fed meat, etc., until aeenstomed to their master and the feeding methods. Then a line is fastened to one leg by a leather anklet, and they are taken out in a boat to fish and drawn in after each capture. After a time they may be set free. A ring or strap-collar is fastened about their necks, so that no fish can be swallowed, but only pouched, and they return to the boat to be relieved of their burden. After a suitable time the ring is removed, and they are allowed to fish for themselves, or fed. These birds make a living for many families on the Chinese coast, and well-trained ones are highly valued. The modern use of cormorants in this way in Eng land was described and illustrated in The Field (London, October. 1800). Sec Plate of FISHING BIRDS, and Colored Plate with WATER BIRDS.