FAUNA OF THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS AND ALASKA PENINSULA 55 



Therefore, there must be adaptability in the species. The in- 

 troduction of blue foxes on a large scale in the Aleutians dis- 

 couraged the low-ground type of nesting; therefore, the birds 

 nested in the cliffs in greater numbers. This change in nesting 

 locale of the double-crested cormorant may have resulted in 

 competition with the more agile red-faced and pelagic cormorants. 

 It may be pointed out that in the absence of blue foxes, the 

 double-crested cormorant would nest on low flat ground, away 

 from cliffs — a habitat not usually desired by the other two 

 species. What the human factor might have been in the 

 ecological picture is hard to say, but, under conditions prevailing 

 in recent years, cormorants could hardly succeed in nesting except 

 on well-protected cliffs. 



Whatever the factors, it is a fact that the double-crested cor- 

 morant has virtually disappeared from the Aleutians west of 

 the group known as the Islands of the Four Mountains. 



Phalacrocorax pelagicus: Pelagic Cormorant 



Phalacrocorax pelagicus pelagicus 



Attu: Kri-li-ti-kch or Kri-li-ti-kich ; Til'-i-toch (1-year-old young) 

 Atka: Agli'-i-uh (possibly referring to any cormorant species) 



Agayux (Jochelson) 

 Russian, Commander Islands: Malinky Uril (Stejneger) 



This is the most abundant cormorant in the North Pacific and 

 Bering Sea region. We found them in the Barren Islands, the Ko- 

 diak-Afognak group, Chisik Island in Cook Inlet, Sutwik Island, 

 Chignik Bay, Shumagin Islands, and along the north side of 

 Alaska Peninsula to Bristol Bay. 



Hine (1919) said, "Colonies of this cormorant nested on the 

 shelves of the sea wall along Katmai and Kashvik bays during 

 the 1919 season." 



Osgood (1904) found these birds on Becharof Lake. Gabriel- 

 son found them to be common in the Semidi Islands. 



We found the pelagic cormorant to be numerous throughout the 

 Aleutian Islands, and they are common in the Commander Islands 

 (Stejneger 1885). This bird has a more northerly distribution 

 than other species, for it occurs on both sides of Bering Sea and 

 as far as the Arctic coast. 



Ordinarily, this species was the more common in the waters 

 about the Aleutian Islands, though among the birds actually 

 nesting P. urile outnumbered P. pelagicus. There appeared to be 

 a considerable number of nonbreeding P. pelagicus, in subadult 

 plumages. In some cases we found no nests, though the birds 

 were present in considerable numbers. 



