272 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



these regions. Dr. Joseph Grinnell (1909) quotes Mr. Joseph Dix- 

 on's notes, referring to South Marble Island in Glacier Bay, as 

 follows : 



There were at least a hundred cormorants breeding on the island and from 

 one hundred and fil'ty to two hundred more were merely roosting there. Only 

 breeding birds were seen during the day, but about 7 o'clock the other black 

 nonbreeders began to arrive in bunches of from four to seven. They left 

 about 4 o'clock in the morning. The nests were attached to the sloping marble 

 just before it dropped off into salt water and were from fifteen to seventy-five 

 feet above the high-tide mark. Most of the nests were not finished, but four 

 contained one egg each. The nests were compactly built of moss gathered 

 nearl^y, and not of seaweed. The white patches on the flanks and the two 

 crests were very noticeable in the breeding birds, and most of the males also 

 had the white, slender plumes on their necks. The nonbreeders had no white 

 flank patches. 



Mr. George Willett (1912) says that at St. Lazaria Island "the 

 nests are built of sticks and seaweed, lined with grass and seamoss. 

 Many of the breeding birds have little or no white on the flanks, 

 and in many cases the nuptial plumes on the neck- are not present 

 or are very poorly developed."' 



Eggs. — The pelagic cormorant is said to lay anywhere from three 

 to seven eggs, but the usual numbers run from three to five, the 

 larger numbers being exceptional. They are "elliptical ovate" or 

 " elongate ovate " in shape. The color is very pale blue or bluish 

 white, which is more or less concealed by a thin calcareous deposit, 

 originally white, but usually somewhat nest-stained. The measure- 

 ments of 41 eggs from the supposed breeding range of fclagicus^ 

 average 58.3 by 37.4 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes 

 measure 63 by 38, 61 by 41, 53.3 by 37, and 56 by 35 millimeters. 

 The measurements of 43 eggs from the supposed breeding range of 

 rohustus^ average 57.5 by 37.2 millimeters; the eggs showing the 

 four extremes measure 63 by 39, 62 by 39.5, 51.5 by 36, and 55.5 by 

 34 millimeters. 



Plumages. — The period of incubation is 26 days. The young 

 bird is naked when first hatched, but before it is half grown it is 

 covered with short thick down of a dark, sooty gray color. The 

 wings and tail appear first and are fully grown before the down dis- 

 appears. In the first plumage young birds are very dark colored, 

 " blackish brown " above and clear uniform, " clove brown " below, 

 but lighter and somewdiat mottled on the head and neck. This 

 plumage, which is somewhat glossy on the back when fresh, be- 

 comes duller and paler during the fall and winter by wear and 

 fading. Dr. Leonhard Stejneger (1885) has made some exhaustive 

 studies of the molts and plumages of this species, based on the ex- 



