Page 14 - Animals of the Sakhalin Region in myths and legends

C

Cormorant Japanese or Ussuri

(Phalacrocorax capillatus)

The plumage is black with a bluish tint, the yellow spot at the base of the beak does not go
beyond the corner of the mouth. The length of the body is 84 cm, the wingspan is 152 cm. The
tail is rounded, of 14 rigid tail feathers. The ring around the eye, the space behind the eye, and
the sides at the base of the lower jaw are bare.
The main food items are fish and crustaceans.
Breeding area is island Sakhalin, in particular Cape Aniva, Green Islands of Aniva Bay,
located south of Busse lagoon, on the island. Moneron, as well as in the South Kuril Islands
from Anuchina Island to the north to the Tair Islands; nesting is possible on the eastern and
western coasts of South Sakhalin. According to other sources, it nests on about. Simushir.
During periods of seasonal migrations and summer migrations, it occurs in the coastal waters
of South Sakhalin and the South Kuril Islands, and in winter - in the non-freezing waters of
these islands. The general distribution is the sea coasts and islands of East Asia.

Once all the deities were called to the Tou-daiji temple for a prayer

for the prosperity of the state. All appeared, but only the god Onyu-
daimyou-jintaku was carried away by fishing and was late for the
ceremony.
To atone for his guilt, he made it so that two cormorants flew
right out of the ground every year from under the pavilion Nigetsu-
do, where the ritual takes place. Where the cormorants fly out, the
Wakasai spring is formed, and after that the water of a new spring
begins to flow.

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