LIFE HISTOEIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 269 



down soon appears, however, and before the young bird is half grown 

 it is completely covered ; the down coat is " clove brown " above, 

 slightly paler below, mottled with white on the under parts and 

 wings. The feathers of the wings and tail appears first and are 

 fully developed before the body plumage is acquired; the down 

 disappears last on the head and neck, after the young bird is fully 

 grown. The brown plumage of the first winter succeeds the downy 

 stage and is worn for nearly a 3^ear, fading out to a very light color 

 on the breast in the spring. There is a partial molt during the first 

 spring, but no very decided advance toward maturity is made until 

 the first complete molt the following summer. At this first post- 

 nuptial molt a plumage is acquired which is somewhat like the adult, 

 but there is still much brown mottling in the head, neck, and under 

 parts. During the following sj^ring there is still further advance, 

 the nuptial plumes are partially acquired and the young bird is ready 

 to breed ; but the fully adult nuptial plumage is not acquired, I be- 

 lieve, until the next, the third, spring. The partial prenuptial molt 

 of adults, at which the long nuptial plumes of the neck and back 

 are acquired, occurs in February and March ; and the complete post- 

 nuptial molt extends from August to October. Both old and young 

 birds in any plumage can be distinguished from the Farallon cormo- 

 rant by the outline of the feathered tract bordei'ing the gular sac; 

 in the Brandt cormorant the gular sac is invaded by a pointed ex- 

 tension of the feathered throat area, whereas in the Farallon the 

 gular sac has a broad, rounded outline. 



Food. — Like other cormorants, this species feeds almost exclusively 

 on fish, which it obtains by diving. As it is a maritime species, it 

 lives on salt-water fishes, many of which it obtains near the bottom 

 and often at considerable depths. Professor Loomis (1895) took 

 some fish from the gullets of these cormorants which were identified 

 as "a species of rock cod {Sehastodes jjcmcispinis) ^ He also says: 

 " Great rafts of these cormorants collected on the bay whenever ' the 

 feed came in.' At a distance these gatherings present a very pecu- 

 liar appearance. The water seems to be thickly set with black sticks, 

 often covering an area of several acres." 



Mr. A. B. Howell writes me: 



The throat is capable of great expansion. I have seen an adult down a fish, 

 after repeated attempts, which seemed sui-prisingly large for the size of the 

 bird. They forage in very deep water. I have seen them bring up seaweed 

 where I was assured that there was none to be had within a 150 feet of the 

 surface. 



Behavior. — Mr. Dawson (1909) says: 



It is a familiar figure on the stringers of salmon traps, as well as on isolated 

 piles or the old abandoned wharves on the lower Sound. If the bird is not 

 exactly of a mind to fly at the first alarm from the passing steamer, it stands 



