402 PHALACROCORAX GRACULUS. 



■which I have examined, none had the bill so very slender ; 

 and those in which it was remarkable in this respect were 

 young birds, whereas the individual figured is an adult. 



It is quite clear that, however imperfectly Linnseus 

 characterized his Pelecanus Graculus, he could have meant 

 no other species than this, as he refers to AVillughby and 

 Ray, and states that it is a European bird. The presence 

 or absence of the crest, and the difference in colour between 

 old and young individuals, rendered the knowledge of the 

 Cormorants extremely imperfect so long as ornithology re- 

 mained chiefly in the hands of the learned, and thus the 

 greatest confusion prevailed; but since the species have 

 been accurately examined and described, we may with pro- 

 priety resume the Linnsean name. Cristatus, the term 

 applied to the present species by M. Temminck, is the least 

 eligible of all names, as almost every species of the genus is 

 crested ; and minor, employed by Brisson and others, an- 

 swered only so long as two species were all that were 

 known. M. Temminck has given the name of Graculus to 

 another species, certainly not the Linnfean, and which he 

 says is common to Europe and America, although none of 

 the ornithologists of the latter continent have ever met with 

 a bird corresponding to his description. Latterly he informs 

 us that its true country is America. It appears to me that 

 this bird can be no other than Phalacrocorax dilophus. 



