486 WEB-FOOTED BIRDS. 



CRESTED SHAG. 



(Phalacrocoraz cristatus, Dumont. Bonap. Synops. No. 355. Peleca- 

 nns cristatus, Gmel. Lath. Ind. Orn. ii. p. 888. sp. 16. Fabric. 

 Fauna Gicenl. No 58. Olaffen, Voy. en Islande, vol. ii. and Atlas 

 tab. 44. Carlo cristatus, Temm. Man. d'Orn. ii. p. 900, and Ibid. 

 Planche color. 322. [adult in full dress]. Carlo brachyurus, Brehm. 

 Crested Shag, Penn. Arct. Zool. ii. p. 312. [4to] A.) 



Sp. Charact. — Bill very slender, SJ^ inches long ; tail very short, 

 rounded, of 12 feathers. — Adult dark and bright golden-green, 

 without white feathers. In summer a broad, long, golden tuft on 

 the top of the head, and a slender crest behind. The young h\a.c]s.- 

 ish, beneath more or less whitish. 



The Crested Shag, is also an inhabitant of the northern 

 part of both continents. It is said to be common in Iceland, 

 in the Orkneys, and in Norway and Sweden, in the vicinity 

 of the large lakes. In Britain they inhabit the dark and 

 bleak precipices of Holyhead, on the coast of Wales, and 

 the cliffs of the Isle of Wight. They are likewise seen in 

 the south of Greenland, where like the Night Herons, the 

 rocks they frequent are covered by their excrements. They 

 have the same habits and mode of breeding as the preced- 

 ing species ; nesting in the clefts of rocks, laying 2 long 

 and whitish eggs covered with a calcareous incrustation. It 

 is rather rare in the United States, and seen only in the 

 winter. 



The length of the Crested Shag is about 2 feet 4 inches ; the alar 

 extent 42 inches ; the bill above 2 inches 4 lines. Winter dress of 

 the adult, with all the plumage of a fine deep resplendent and shin- 

 ing green. Upper part of the back, scapulars, wing coverts and 

 quills of a fine bronze color, each feather surrounded with a narrow 

 border of velvety-black. The extremities of the closed wings not 

 extending beyond the commencement of the tail, which is short, 



