Geoff's Gallery:   Little Pied Cormorant (1/1)

PHALACROCORACIFORMES: Phalacrocoracidae

Microcarbo melanoleucos  

J A Leach on Cormorants:

Mr. Mattingley, C.M.Z.S., and others claim that the Cormorant, by feeding its young on yabbies, which, they say, prey on fish eggs, saves many more fish in the young stage than it ever eats in the adult stage, and hence it is really "a friend" of the anglers and fish. One thing is certain--fish were formerly much more abundant, and so were Cormorants. Anglers, collect evidence, and balance good with evil. Cormorants have a long, narrow bill, with a strongly-hooked tip. They are such expert fishers that in China they are much used to catch fish. Some will probably be surprised to learn that this custom formerly held in England, for the "Master of the Cormorants" was once one of the officers of the Royal household.

An Australian Bird Book, 1912, 2nd Ed. p63.
by J A Leach, M.Sc (1870-1929).