tim head first.

The great skill of this bird has been made use of, and tame Cormorants
are used in China to obtain fish for their masters. They have been used
in England, too, for the same purpose. A strap is placed round the
bird's neck to prevent him from swallowing the catch. He is then set to
work. After catching five or six fish he is recalled by his master, and
made to disgorge his prey, which, of course, he has swallowed as far as
the strap will permit.

The Cormorant is famous for his large appetite; he chases even big fish,
of a size to choke him, you would think. Like his relative the Pelican,
he owns a very elastic throat. I have seen a Pelican put a half-grown
duck in its pouch, without much trouble. The Cormorant could not perform
this feat, but his throat will stretch so as to allow the passage of
large fish. Small fish he usually tosses up in the air, catches them
neatly head first, and swallows them whole.

Another bird of our coast is the Oyster-catcher, sometimes called the
"Sea-pie" or Mussel-picker. These names suit it well, for it does not
live on oysters, but on mussels, limpets and whelks. Of course, these
are easily "caught" at low tide; they are not easily eaten, so the
Sea-pie has to earn his dinner by hard work. In fact, his beak is often
notched by the sharp, hard edges of the shells of these molluscs; and at
times, he haunts the low banks of mud and ooze near the sea, and there
picks up worms and other soft-bodied animals.

As his name Sea-pie shows, the Oyster-catcher is a black-and-white bird,
his under parts being white and upper parts black. His legs and long,
straight bill are red. Most birds of the waterside seem to find that
black-and-white feathers make a good disguise. Though they would show up
plainly on a green field, they are well hidden among the stones along
the edge of the water.

The Sea-pie makes no nest, only a hole in the sand or shingle, lined
with small stones or shells. The eggs are coloured and marked so that
they are hard to see among the stones which surround them. The
youngsters wear a fluffy suit of grey, marked with dark streaks and
dots; and it takes very sharp eyes indeed to pick them out from the
shingle where they crouch.

The Ringed Plover is another bird which loves the sandy, pebbly margin
of the sea. Have you ever watched him there? He is not much larger than
a plump lark, and he runs quickly along the beach, stooping now and
again to pick up the m