ALASKA. 193 



probably the rod-faced cormorant, P. urile^ of earlier authors. 

 In adiUt phiina-e it is readily recognized by the naked red 

 skin which entirely surrounds the base of the bill, somewhat 

 caruncuhite, and the blue base of the under mandible, as well 

 as by the other points noticed in the later treatises above 

 quoted. h\ the gieat confusion subsisting among authors re- 

 spectiug the North Tacihc cormorants, we do not venture to 

 cite several names more or less probably synonymous. 



Several eggs of this cormorant, brought in by Mr. Elliott, are 

 covered with the white, chalky incrustation, in a maximum 

 amount of depth and irregularity, the shell being very pale 

 bluish beneath. They measure about 2 J inches long by 1 J wide, 

 being thus narrowly elongate, though little njore pointed at 

 one end than at the other. They are all much soiled with the 

 filth of the nest. 



"This cormorant, the only one of its tribe visiting the Seal 

 Islands, is a common bird, and is found the whole year round. 

 The terrible storms in February and Marcjh are unable to drive 

 the "shag" away from the sheltered clifts of the island, while 

 all other species, even the big northern gull, depart for the open 

 water south. 



" It comes on to the cliffs to make its nest and lay, the earliest 

 of the birds in this sea. Two eggs were taken from a nest on 

 the reef. Saint Paul's Island, June 1, 1872, which is over three 

 weeks in advance of the other water-fowl, almost without ex- 

 ception. The nest is large, carefully rounded up, and built upon 

 some jutting point or narrow shelf along the face of a cliff or 

 bluff; in its constrnctiou sea-ferns, {Scrtularidcv,) grass, &o., 

 are used, together with a cement made largely of their excre- 

 ment. 



" The eggs are usually three in number, sometimes four, and, 

 compared with the size of the bird, are very small. They are 

 oval, of a dirty, whitish gray, green, and blue color, but soon 

 become soiled ; for although the bird's plumage is sleek and 

 bright, yet it is exceedingly slovenly and filthy about the nest. 

 The young come from the shell at the expiration of three 

 weeks' incubation, without feathers, and almost bare even of 

 down. They grow rapidly, being fed by the old birds, who 

 eject the contents of their stomachs, such as small fish, crabs, 

 and shrimps all over and around the nest. In about six weelis 

 the young cormorant can take to its wings, being then fully as 

 large and heavy as the parents; but it is not until the beginning 

 of its second year that it has the bright plumage and metallic 

 13 AL 



