Family PELECANiDAE. 



Phalacrocorax carbo (L.) — Common Cormorant. 



(Plate 117, fig. a-c). 

 (Snouckacrt: Avifauna Neerlandica, p. 80, No. 1881. 



Colour of surface of sfiell: 



Avcrcige dimensions: 

 Average weight of shell : 

 Texture of shell: 



Shape : 



Nest: 



Site of nest: 



Number of eggs: 

 Breeding season: 



Duration of incubation : 

 * Remark : 



pale greenish blue, completely or partly cove- 

 red with a white or yellowish white lime- 

 crust *), more or less browned by accessory 

 spots caused by nest-material; when lij^ht 

 penetrates through theshell itshows through 

 green in the same shade as, e.g., in eggs 

 of the Colymbidac. 



In the shell (under the lime-crust) I have some- 

 times found green spots, corresponding in 

 shade with tlie biliprasin of Ardea-eggs. 



65 ■' 40 millimetres. 



5.5 grams. 



the shell (under the lime-crust) appears to 

 nic to be more or less allied in texture, 

 shape of the pores, and through the occa- 

 sional occurrence of long grooves, with that 

 of Ardcidae. 



mostly elliptical; sometimes ovoidal, bluntly 

 pointed. 



composed of sticks, stalks, rushes, sea-weed, 

 and similar materials. 



in high trees as well on pollard willows or 

 among rushes, according to local conditions; 

 always in large or small colonies. 



3-5. 



mid-March (still earlier when the weather is 

 favourable) till in August (sometimes Sep- 

 tember). 



about 28 days. 



on analyzing this crust chemically, it was 

 seen to have, in the main, the same com- 

 position as the eggshell. 



