ug. 14,—Cormorants are fascinating birds to watch at any time: the tame birds trained to fish with a neck-ring so that they cannot swallow their catch, may be seen at work in the inland waters of the Yangtze Delta (including many creeks around Shanghai) while the wild birds are now seen daily round the roc and islets of the Shantung Coast busily swallowing their catch at will, or standing with wings majestically outspread, drying them in the sun, and reminding me forcibly of those birds which support Church Jecterns, But -unfortunately I am now unable to look at a Cormorant, even in its most majestic pose, without reverting to the habit of Little Audrey. for I have just read two articles about these hich are full of unconscious humour. a magazine story which has no less than three editors... first in a popular magazine, then in digest" form, and finally' re-digested for consumption in Shanghai: in it the tame birds are described as flying high up. into the air until they become mere specks in the sk} then diving from great heights to. secure thei fish, and finally flying back to the boat grasping their prey in their talons! In actual fact Cormorants fly low over water, swim on the surface to spot their fish, catch it by swimming after it under water, and always carry it in their strong bills feet incapable of grasping anything! second article makes a strange suggestion if you want to decoy Cormorants: take ambush on a rock armed with a black hat: this must be raised on a stick and waved about to represent a wing-drying cormorant." This suggestion has shaken me badly. Weihaiwei is not a dressy place and if I am seen hiding among the rocks waving a silk hat, bowler, or Anthony Eden, I feel sure that friends will suspect something. pail A SES
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.