These birds have a wide geographical distribution, being found in all parts of the globe, and always on the sea-coast or at the mouths of rivers. They are excellent swimmers and clever divers, pursuing with extraordinary rapidity the fish on which they feed. The Cormorant swallows its prey head first; and if it happens to catch it by the wrong end, it will throw it up in the air, and seize it again in its bill as it descends in the proper position. When it has caught an eel, a good half-hour sometimes elapses before it can succeed in swallowing it. It may be seen making the most violent efforts to swallow its prey; and just at the moment when one would think that the slippery morsel was successfully absorbed, the fish suddenly reappears again from the depths of its living sepulchre, still straggling to escape; the Cormorant re-swallows it again; the eel still resists, and increases its efforts to escape; worn out at last by its prolonged and useless efforts, the victim is finally compelled to resign itself to its fate. The appetite of the Cormorant is insatiable. The havoc which it commits in rivers is very great, for one day's consumption frequently amounts to six or eight pounds of fish: these it pursues principally under water, for it is an expert diver, and most successful in its search for its prey. In consequence of the skill displayed by the Cormorant in fishing, and the ease with which it is tamed, it is reared in a semi-domestic state in certain parts of Eastern Asia. The Chinese and Japanese are the nations who best know how to utilise the habits of these birds. When thus used a ring is placed round their necks to prevent them swallowing their prey, before turning them loose in waters which abound with the finny tribes. The Cormorants, trained to obey their master's voice, and balked in their attempts to swallow by the ring round the neck, bring to their owner all fish they capture. Sir George Stanton, in his embassy to China, having reached Len-tze, famed for its breed of these birds, found them to be a species somewhat resembling the Common Cormorant, described by Dr. Shaw as a Brown Cormorant with white throat, the body whitish beneath, spotted with brown; the tail rounded; irides blue, and bill yellow; which he named _Phalacrocorax sinensis_. "On a large lake," Sir George says, "close to this part of the canal, and to the eastward of it, are thousands of small boats and rafts built entirely for this species of fishery. On each boat or raft are ten or a dozen birds, which, at a signal from the owner, plunge into the water; and it is astonishing to see the enormous size of fish with which they return. They appeared to be so well trained that it did not require either ring or cord round their necks to prevent them swallowing their prey, except when they received the permission of their master to do so, as an encouragement for their labours."