As the Cormorant returns for years in succession to one particular spot to breed, there can be little doubt that it pairs for life. The birds begin to associate closely in pairs somewhat early in spring; but actual nesting duties do not commence for a little time after that event. In most places the Cormorant breeds in colonies, the size apparently varying according to the amount of accommodation. For the present purpose we need not describe in detail any of the inland nesting places of this species, beyond remarking that the bird often breeds in trees like Rooks, making a huge nest of sticks and twigs, lined with grass. Upon the coast the favourite breeding resorts of the Cormorant are ranges of lofty cliffs, and small low islands and reefs. The nest may thus either be on the ground—as at the Farne Islands, for instance—or on a ledge of the cliffs. When in the former situation it is generally composed of masses of seaweed, stalks of marine plants, and lined with green grass or other herbage. A Cormorant’s nesting place is by no means a pleasant one for persons whose olfactory nerves are sensitive, the smell from the decaying fish, and from the droppings of the birds, that literally whitewash the whole vicinity, being sickening in the extreme. Other sea fowl usually give these colonies a wide birth. The eggs are from three to six in number, of a delicate bluish-green—where the colour can be detected through the abundant coating of lime—small for the size of the bird, and long and oval in shape. When disturbed the sitting Cormorants make little demonstration, but fly out to sea at once. But one brood is reared in the season, and the eggs are deposited during April or May, in the British Islands. The Cormorant is a silent bird: the only note I have ever heard it utter has been a croaking one at the nest. SHAG.