OCR Text |
Show Cormorant Fishing in Japan. ft Tho cormorant Is a voracious seabird of m tho pelican family, about the size of an M ordlnarv goose, and subsists entirely upon m fish. The extraordinary rapacity with M which It devours theso has led to Its be- M ing frequently employed as a symbol of gre.wd. Its element ls the water; it dives m with arrow-like rapidity, and ls an un- A wearied swimmer, keoplng so low In tho water that only the head and neck anel W top of tho back aro visible. Unlike most V other fishing birds. It dives not from tho m wing, but from the surface of the water. W In splto of this lack of a Hying start. It 9 can dle to great depth, thanks In great m part to uho use of Its wings under wntcr. A British 3pocIes has been caught In a m crab-pot 120 feet below the surface. It usunllv seizes tho fish crosswise, but it is not like tho heron, under tho necessity of M bringing its prey to land boforo it can M swnllop St It turns tho fish in tho water m or tosses it up in tho air and catches it with great dexterity as it falls head foro- m JI,0i,t. ' . . . ft When fully grown, each cormorant has M ii metal ring fastened round the baso of. H Its nock, care being taken that this ring, while small enough to prevent tho swal- M lowing of tho markotablo fish, shall at tho Wi same time bo largo enough to admit tho M smaller fish which from now on must M nerve as Its food, since tho ring is never W removed. fti When fishing each cormorant has a Hi kind of cord harness about Its body, to ' which is attached a line nbout fifteen foot long with which the master controls tl3 MM bird fll Four or five good-sl.ied fish are as many M as a cormorant Is able to swallow at ono !.B time; and as each bird became gorged on W an average of ovory two or three minutes. m, the bottoms of tho boats were soon piled m with hundreds of fish. a Thc cormorant fishing season In Japan m lasts five months from tho begiiining of Mav to the end of September und is so M profitable that a wcll-tralncd bird is a vnl- m liable asset, guarded with such care that M during tho months when mosquito pester ,9J Ihe birds even tho cages are covered with Ml netting. Georgo Elmer Scott In Booklov- B1 ers Magazine. II |