Part 24

As soon as the young quit the shell, they plunge into the water, dive, and swim about with the greatest ease; but they still gather together about the mother, and take shelter under her wings, and do not entirely leave her for some time. They are at first covered with sooty coloured down, and are of a shapeless appearance: while they are in this state, and before they have learned, by experience, to shun their foes, the kite, moor buzzard, and others of the hawk tribe, make dreadful havoc among them; and this, notwithstanding the numerous brood, may account for the scarcity of the species.

_Greater Coot._—(_Fulica aterrima_, LINN.; _Le Grand Foulque au Morelle_, BUFF.)—This is of a larger size than the last, but differs not in the colour of the plumage, except that it is blacker. Brisson distinguishes the two by the colour of the bare forehead, which is in this white; and the garters, which are of deep red. This bird is said to be found in Lancashire and in Scotland. It should seem to be a mere variety of the former, did not authors join in advancing the contrary. They are more plentiful on the continent, being found in Russia and the western part of Siberia very commonly, and are also in plenty at Sologne and the neighbouring parts, where they call it judelle. The people eat them on maigre days, and the flesh is much esteemed.—_Latham._

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A curious anecdote is related of a bald coot that built her nest in Sir William Middleton’s lake, at Belsay, Northumberland. The rushes which contained it being afterwards loosened by the wind, the nest was driven about, and floated upon the surface of the water, in every direction; notwithstanding which, the female continued to sit as usual, and brought out her young upon her moveable habitation.

_Cleaning Coots._—The recipe for this, is, after picking them, to take off all the black down, by means of powdered white rosin and boiling water, and then to let them soak all night in cold spring water; by which they are made to look as delicate as a chicken, and to eat tolerably well; but, without this process, the skin, in roasting, produces a sort of oil, with a fishy taste and smell; and, if taken off, the bird becomes dry, and good for nothing. After all, however, these birds are in no way delicate, except when skinned; and after being soaked twenty-four hours in cold spring water, repeatedly changed, made into a pudding, by which, as with all such birds, when in puddings, pies, or soup, you can get rid of their strong skins without losing the juice of their flesh; and their fishy taste is, in a great measure, drawn off by steam.

Moor-hens may be cleaned in like manner, and, if in good condition, they will then be nearly equal to any wild fowl.—_Hawker._

COPPER, _s._ One of the six primitive metals.

COPPER-CAP, _s._ A metallic covering fixed upon the nipple of a percussion gun, containing a fulminating composition, which explodes by the action of the cock and ignites the powder in the barrel. _Vide_ PERCUSSION.

COPPERAS, _s._ A kind of vitriol.

COPPICE, _s._ Low woods cut at stated times for fuel.

COPSE, _s._ Short wood.

COPSE, _v._ To preserve underwood.

COPULATE, _v._ To come together as different sexes.

COPULATION, _s._ The congress or embrace of the two sexes.

CORACLE, _s._ A boat used in Wales by fishers.

CORDIAL, _s._ A medicine that increases the force of the heart, or quickens the circulation; any medicine that increases strength; any thing that comforts, gladdens, and exhilarates. Cordials are useful to give a temporary energy to the stomach and bowels, and stimulate the nervous system.

White says, “There is not a better cordial than about half a pint of good strong beer, with a little ginger grated into it. A wineglassful of brandy in half a pint of water is stronger, and may, on some occasions, be more useful; but I wish to impress on the reader, that, whenever a cordial appears necessary, we should give one of no greater strength than is sufficient to produce the desired effect; and it will be found, I think, that a much better effect may be produced by three or four small doses, or weak cordials, than by giving only one large dose.”

CORDIALS.

1. From half a pint to a pint of the best old mild beer, with a little grated ginger.

2. Best Cognac brandy, from 2 to 4 oz. Warm water 6 to 12 oz.

3. Anodyne carminative tincture 2 oz. Water 6 or 8 oz.

4. Allspice, powdered 2 to 4 drs. Caraway seeds (fresh), powdered 4 dr. to 1 oz. Treacle enough to form a ball.

5. Ginger, powdered 1 dr. Allspice, powdered 2 drs. Caraway seeds, powdered 4 drs. Treacle enough to form a ball.

The cordials No. 4 and 5 may be given as a drench with a little water; and if the cordials 1, 2, and 3, were sweetened with treacle or sugar, they would be more palatable to the horse, and probably have a better effect. The above cordials are as well suited to cattle as to horses; and, though much stronger drenches are often given, those will be found, I think, of sufficient strength.—_White._

CORDIAL, _a._ Reviving, invigorating, sincere.

CORE, _s._ The heart; the inner part of any thing; the inner part of a fruit, which contains the kernel; the matter contained in a bile or sore.

CORIANDER, _s._ A plant.

CORK, _s._ A glandiferous tree, in all respects like the ilex, excepting the bark; the bark of the cork-tree used for stopples; the stopple of a bottle.

CORMORANT, COLE GOOSE, or GREAT BLACK CORMORANT, (_Pelicanus Corbo_, LINN.; _Le Cormoran_, BUFF.) _s._ A bird that preys upon fish.

The weight of this species varies from four to seven pounds, and the size from thirty-two inches to three feet four or five in length, and from four feet to four feet six inches in breadth. The bill, to the corners of the mouth, measures four inches, and on its ridge two and three quarters; it is of a dark horn colour, and the tip or nail of the upper bill is much hooked and sharp; from the base of this it is furrowed on each side nearly to the tip, without any visible appearance of nostrils; the lower bill is compressed, and covered, about the gape of the mouth, with a naked yellowish skin, extended under the chin and throat, where it hangs loose, and forms a kind of pouch, which, together with the springing blade on each side, forming its rim, is capable of distension to a great width, and enables the bird to swallow prey apparently too large to be admitted into its throat; the skin about the eyes is also naked, and of the same colour as the pouch; the eyes, which have a remarkable wild stare, and are placed near the bill, look like two little greenish glass globes. The crown of the head, and the neck, are black; on the hinder part of the former the feathers appear elongated, and form a sort of loose short crest. In some specimens the throat is white, with a kind of stripe passing from it, upwards, behind each eye; in others the cheeks and throat are mixed with brown and white; and again, in others the head and neck are streaked with scratches of the latter colour. The middle of the belly is white, with a patch of the same colour over each thigh; all the under parts, however, together with the back and rump, are commonly of a glossy blue black, with green reflections: the shoulders, scapulars, and wing-coverts, are of a bronze brown, tinged and glossed with green, and each feather is bordered with shining blueish black; the secondary quills are nearly of the same colour; the coverts and the primaries are dusky. The tail consists of fourteen stiff husky feathers, which look as if they were discoloured by being dipped in mud or dirty kennel-water: the legs are thick, strong, black, and coarse, about two inches and a half long, and the outer toe is more than four in length.

The cormorant is found in every climate. In Greenland, where it is said they remain throughout the year, the jugular pouch is made use of by the natives, as a bladder to float their fishing-darts, after they are thrown; their skins, which are tough, are used for garments, and their flesh for food; “but the eggs are too fetid to be eaten even by the Greenlanders.”

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These birds usually assemble in flocks on the summits and inaccessible parts of the rocks which overhang or are surrounded by the sea, upon which the female makes her nest of the withered sea-tang, weeds, sticks, and grasses, which are cast on shore by the waves: she lays four or more greenish-white eggs, of the size of those of a goose, but of a longer shape. There are writers who assert that, in some parts of the world, they build their nests on trees, like the rook and the heron; other authors, stricken with the singular conformation of the feet and serrated claws, have ascribed properties to them which they do not possess, and believe that they hold their prey in one foot, while with the other they push forward to the shore, or carry it thither, in the same manner, on the wing; but this seems mere conjecture, for the feet of this tribe are not fitted for any such purpose; they are, like those of all the expert divers, placed far behind; and while, by the position of these, and the powerful strokes from their broad webs, the bird is enabled to pursue and overtake its slippery prey, the hooked, sharp-edged beak is the only fit instrument both to catch and to secure it; and there is no need to use the awkward expedient of removing it afterwards to the foot.

At sea, or on the inland lakes, they make terrible havoc. From the greatest height they drop down upon the object of pursuit, dive after it with the rapidity of a dart, and, with an almost unerring certainty, seize the victim; then emerging with the fish across the bill, with a kind of twirl, throw it up into the air, and, dexterously catching it head foremost, swallow it whole.

While at rest on the shore, commonly on the ledge of a projecting rock, these birds sit, more or less, in an erect posture, and are propped up by the stiff feathers of the tail; and in places where they have not experienced the fatal effects of the gun, they have been known, however wary at other times, to sit and receive repeated shots, without offering to move out of the danger. At other times and places, while they sit in a dosing and stupified state, from the effects of one of their customary surfeits, they may easily be taken, by throwing nets over them, or by putting a noose around their necks, which they avoid no further than by slipping the head from side to side as long as they can.

Notwithstanding the natural wildness of their disposition, it seems, according to some accounts, that certain species of these birds have formerly been tamed and rendered subservient to the purposes of man, both in this and other countries. Among the Chinese it is said they have frequently been trained to fish, and that some fishermen keep many of them for that purpose, by which they gain a livelihood. “A ring placed round the neck hinders the bird from swallowing; its natural appetite joins with the will of its master, and it instantly dives at the word of command; when, unable to gorge down the fish it has taken, it returns to the keeper, who secures it to himself. Sometimes, if the fish be too big for one to manage, two will act in concert, one taking it by the head and the other by the tail.” In England, according to Willoughby, “when they came to the rivers, they take off their hoods, and having tied a leather thong round the lower part of their necks, that they may not swallow down the fish they catch, they throw them into the river. They presently dive under water, and there for a time, with wonderful swiftness, they pursue the fish; and when they have caught them, they arise presently to the top of the water, and pressing the fish lightly with their bills, they swallow them, till each bird hath in this manner swallowed five or six fishes; then their keepers call them to the fist, to which they readily fly, and, little by little, one after another, vomit up all their fish, a little bruised with the nip they gave them with their bills. When they have done fishing, setting the birds on some high place, they loose the string from their necks, leaving the passage to the stomach free and open, and for their reward they throw them part of the prey they have caught, to each, perchance, one or two fishes, which they by the way, as they are falling in the air, will catch most dexterously in their mouths.”

Whitelock tells us “That he had a cast of them manned like hawks, which would come to hand.” He took much pleasure in them, and relates, that the best he had was one presented to him by Mr. Wood, Master of the Cormorants to Charles the First.

Dr. Heysham relates that, about the year 1759, one of these birds “perched upon the castle at Carlisle, and soon afterwards removed to the cathedral, where it was shot at upwards of twenty times without effect; at length a person got upon the cathedral, fired at, and killed it.” “In another instance, a flock of fifteen or twenty perched, at the dusk of evening, in a tree on the banks of the river Esk, near Netherby, the seat of Sir James Graham. A person who saw them settle, fired at random at them in the dark six or seven times, without either killing any or frightening them away: surprised at this, he came again, at day-light, and killed one, whereupon the rest took flight.”—_Bewick_—_Latham_—_Willoughby, &c._

CORN, _s._ The seeds which grow in ears, not in pods; grain unreaped; grain in the ear, yet unthrashed; an excrescence on the foot, hard and painful.

_Corns_ are a very common and a very troublesome disorder, and may truly be said to be often occasioned by the smith, being generally in consequence of bad shoeing. Corns most commonly happen in white feet with weak low heels; but they are too common in feet of all colours. They are occasioned by the pressure of the heel of the shoe, either by its bearing directly on the sole when it is too thin to bear the pressure, or by its forcing the heel of the crust inwards. In this way the sensible sole and laminæ are bruised, their blood-vessels ruptured, and the blood penetrates into the pores of the horn, causing the dark red appearance observable on removing the shoe, and scraping off the surface of the sole. This bruised part is exceedingly tender, and incapable of bearing the pressure of the shoe, and so are the crust and bar on each side of it. In the treatment of this complaint all this must be cut away, that is, all the parts must be so cut down, crust, bar, and sole, that when a bar shoe is applied it may be full half an inch distant from its surface. In this way a horse will be able to do his work, provided the shoe is removed, and the heel pared down as often as is necessary. As in this case the frog will be constantly receiving considerable pressure from the bar shoe, it is necessary to take care that the heels are not too thick and inflexible, in which case it is necessary to rasp them; and whenever there is a morbid degree of heat in the feet, or dryness, they should be kept constantly moist and cool in the stable, either by poultice or by several folds of old woollen wrapped round the coronet, and kept constantly wet. The common practice of pairing _out_ the corn and leaving the bar and crust to be in contact with the heel of the shoe, is doing no good, nor would it afford even temporary relief, if the shoe were not bent up or made to bear off that quarter a little, as they term it; yet after riding a few miles the shoe is sure to yield to the horse’s weight, and bear upon the tender heel. It is thus that corns are made so troublesome as we find them, and many horses are rendered nearly unserviceable, or absolutely ruined by this improper treatment. Matter is often formed within the heel from this sort of management, and breaks out at the coronet, frequently doing great mischief, and even rendering the horse useless. When corns have been suffered to go this length the foot must be poulticed, and all the hollow horn cut away. After the inflammation has been thus completely subdued, the sensible parts which have been laid bare may be dressed with Friars’ balsam and the tar ointment. The radical cure of corns is always practicable if taken early, but in old cases the sensible parts will always remain in a tender state, however carefully they may be treated, and will always require the defence of the bar shoe, applied as I have described. A run at grass _without shoes_ is a great relief to a horse with corns, provided the tender heel is cut down as I have described, and the heel and quarter rasped very thin. When a radical cure is attempted, this is the most likely means of effecting it.—_White._

CORNCRAKE. (_Vide_ LANDRAIL.)

CORNEOUS, _a._ Horny, of a substance resembling horn.

CORNET, _s._ Cornet of a horse, is the lowest part of his pastern that runs round the coffin.

CORPULENT, _a._ Fleshy, bulky.

CORROBORANT, _a._ Having the power to give strength.

CORRODE, _v._ To eat away by degrees.

CORROSION, _s._ The power of eating or wearing away by degrees.

COSTIVE, _a._ Bound in the body; close, unpermeable.

COSTIVENESS, _s._ The state of the body in which excretion is obstructed.

COT, _s._ A small house, a hut, a bed.

COTTON, _s._ The down of the cotton tree; a plant; cloth or stuff made of cotton.

COUCH, _v._ To lie down in a place of repose; to lie down on the knees, as a beast, to rest; to lie down in ambush.

COUCHANT, _a._ Lying down, squatting.

COVE, _s._ A small creek or bay; a shelter, a cover.

COVER, _v._ To overspread any thing with something else; to hide by artificial appearances; to brood on; to copulate with a female.

COVER, _s._ Any thing that is laid over another; a concealment, a screen; shelter; a wood, a thicket or place planted with furze or brushwood; a breeding place for foxes. To _draw_ a cover—to search it for foxes, by sending the hounds through.

Judicious huntsmen will observe where foxes like best to lie; this must, of course, vary in different countries, and a knowledge of the country will best direct them in this respect. Where there are large tracts of cover, such observation will save time in finding; generally speaking, foxes prefer covers that lie high, are dry and thick at the bottom, that are out of the wind, and are on the sunny side of hills. The cover where a fox is found, when it has remained still any time, will probably produce a second. In nutting time, furze-brakes and two or three years’ coppices are the only quiet places for a fox to kennel in; when pheasant-shooting begins, older covers are more likely. The season when foxes are most wild and strong, is near Christmas; a huntsman must, at that season, lose no time in drawing, and be as silent as possible; three or four years’ coppices, with heath or furze at the bottom, are then most likely. The male foxes, about Christmas, travel miles after the females, and, when hunted, generally run directly for the country from whence they came; the compiler has at that season, in the course of three weeks, killed two brace of dog-foxes from one cover, where the least distance was twelve, and in one of the four chases was extended to double the number of miles, from the place of unkennelling, to the spot where the fox was killed.

When a string of small covers have plenty of foxes in them, some caution is necessary to prevent their being all disturbed in one day. Foxes are said to go down wind to their kennel, but, however that may be, the huntsman should begin drawing at the farthest cover down the wind, and proceed from cover to cover up the wind, till he finds; these advantages will attend it; he will draw the covers more speedily, there will be less difficulty in getting hounds away, and as the fox most likely will run to the covers already drawn, there is the less probability of changing, and the covers which are up the wind, beyond where the fox is found, remain perfectly undisturbed.

Never hunt the small, until the large covers have been well rattled; for it would be bad policy to drive from the former to the latter to increase the number. If foxes are meant to be thinned and dispersed, hounds must throw off at the same cover, as long as a fox can be found. Hounds that come away with the first fox that breaks, do not disturb the cover, and may expect to find there again the next day; but where foxes are scarce, the same cover should never be drawn two days following.

Furze covers cannot be drawn too close, and if a fox is there found, he should never be hallooed until quite clear of them; from such places, hounds are sure to go off well with him; and it would be the height of cruelty to head him back into the hounds’ mouths.

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Much depends on the first finding a fox, who, if well found, may be said to be half killed. The huntsman should draw quietly, and up the wind; this is material; the fox, by drawing up the wind, does not hear the approach of the hounds, who by this means are also within hearing; besides, should the fox turn down the wind, as most probably he will, it lets the hounds all in. If covers are small, and from which a fox cannot break unseen, noise can then do no hurt, but late in the season foxes are wild, particularly in covers that are often hunted; and should there be any noise, they will slink their kennels and get too much advantage; the whipper-in, where this is suspected to happen, should get the opposite side of the cover, before the hounds are thrown into it.

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When foxes are numerous, there is no occasion for an early hour, and when they are weak, by hunting late, they give better chases; when foxes are strong, hounds ought then to have the advantage which hunting early affords them. When hounds go out late, they should immediately proceed where it is likely to find, which, for the most part, is that cover where hounds have been least in; if a fox is not soon found, a long and tiresome day is generally the consequence; when the cover is thick, particularly if it be furzy, it should be drawn slowly; a fox at a late hour will keep his kennel until hounds come close upon him.—_Beckford._—_Daniel._

COVERT, _s._ A shelter, a defence. Coverts of the Tail, (_Uropygium_, LINN.), in Ornithology, are feathers which cover the tail on the upper side, at the base.

COVEY, _s._ A hatch, an old bird with her young ones; a number of birds together.

COUGH, _s._ A convulsion of the lungs.

COUGH, _v._ To have the lungs convulsed; to make a noise in endeavouring to evacuate the peccant matter from the lungs.