394 PHALACROCORAX GRACULUS. 



back and wings of a lighter tint, and margined with velvet- 

 black. The primary quills and the tail-feathers greyish-black. 

 Length to end of tail 29 inches ; extent of wdngs 42 ; 

 wing from flexure 10^ ; tail 5J ; bill along the ridge 2J-| ; 

 along the edge of lower mandible S^ ; tarsus 2-^ ; first toe 

 1, its claw -j^ ; second toe 1-j^, its claw ^; third toe 2^, its 

 claw -j^ ; fourth toe 3-p^, its claw -j^. 



Female in Winter. — The female is similar to the male. 

 Length to end of tail 26 inch 

 tarsus 2^ ; outer toe and claw 3f . 



Length to end of tail 26 inches ; extent of wings 38 



Variations. — Individuals vary considerably as to size, 

 but otherwise very slightly ; the largest measuring thirty 

 inches in length, the smallest twenty-five. The following 

 are some of the dimensions of seven individuals. 



M. M. F. Y. Y, Y. Y. 



Length 29 30 25 261 29 28|- 26 



Extent 42 42 38 36 40 38 — 



Gape-line -- 3^ — — 3-^ 3-;^ Sj\ 



Wing — 1014 — — 10|4 101" 101 



Tail — 61" — — Si' 5" 51 



Tarsus 2^ 21 2 2 2-^1- 2^3^ 2-jL 



Outer toe & claw 4i 41 3| 4i 3ii 4^ 4i 



In adult individuals I have not seen much difference in 

 colour. One now beside me has a single white feather in the 

 crest. In some the shafts of the quills and tail-feathers, as 

 well as their webs, are undulated, or marked with transverse 

 lines, as in Plotus Anhinga, although much less distinctly. 



Changes of Plumage. — The moult takes place in the 

 end of summer, and is completed in October. In spring, as 

 early as March, a partial moult takes place, ■when there is 

 formed on the head, a little behind the level of the eye, a tuft, 

 broader than long, of elongated, recurved, oblong feathers, 

 nearly two inches in length. No other change is apparent, 

 the colours of all the parts remaining as before. In summer. 



