190 ORNITHOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS. 



Ko. 8!)1L'0. — Iris .V(.ll()\vi.sli uiccii. Bill homy bUiclii.sli liidwii, liuliltM- ;it, baw ; caruncU's along border 

 of bill, on llic lo'cs, around tlio eyes, and on the cbiu-au^lo brownisli vermilion. Feet jet black. 



No. 8911!). — Color.s c.\actly liUo foregoing. 



No. 92881. — Bill blackish brown; lower mandible and especially tlie lomia lighter; naked parts of 

 face dark grayish brown with browni.sh orange warts. Feet black. Nail of outer toe fells 23™"' short 

 of tip of tail, legs being stretched backwards. New feathers in their sh(^aths, but still concealed under 

 the old ones, all over the back, nape, and head. None ol' the white jdumules in the sheaths. Very fat 



No. 2005. — Iris deep sea-green. Naked skin of face dark grayish brown with brownish vermilion 

 papillffi. Feet black. Backwards stretched toes roach tip of tail ; tip of closed wings hardly reach the 

 heel-joint, nor do they reach the tips of upper tail coverts, the distance being 21""". All the white 

 plumules are new, those on neck and head still partly or wholly in their sheaths. Largest eggs in 

 ovary of tiie size of small peas. Extremely fat. 



No. 92882. — Bill horny blackifh brown, lighter along tomia ; naked parts of face dark grayish 

 brown. Feet black. New tertials and feathers on tlie crown of the head in their sheaths. The white 

 plumules ou the thighs show uo traces of being new. Nail of outer toe fells lO""" short of tip of tail, 

 legs being stretched backwards. 



No. 92880. — Colors of naked skin exactly as in the downy young of PA. urile, No. 92879. 



The Pelagic Cormorant is a very abundant resident of both islands, 

 breeding on all the most rugged and steepest promontories which 

 rise immediately from the sea, as well as on the outlying islets and 

 stones. Many of them winter around the coast, but they are not by far 

 so common at that season as during summer. 



Although very i)lentiful at the present date, their number is said to 

 have been vastly greater before .1870, when their endless myriads in 

 some places were real " landmarks," which could be relied upon even in 

 foggy weather, such a point, for instance, being the northern caj^e of 

 Copper Island, as Captain Sandman informed me. But during the 

 winter of 1870-77 thousands and thousands were destroyed by an ap- 

 parently epidemic disease, and masses of the dead birds covered the 

 beach all round the islands. During the following summer comparatively 

 few were seen, but of later years their number has again been increas- 

 ing, though peoi^le having seen their former multitude think that there 

 is no comparison between the past and the present. Erom Bering 

 Island the reports are similar, with the addition that the stone-foxes 

 would not eat the corpses. As the " Uril " forms a not inconsiderable 

 part of the fresh food of the natives during the time of the year when 

 the fur-seal {Callorhinus ursinus) is not slaughtered, especially now 

 when " Nerpi " {Fhoca vitulma) are getting scarce, the people were very 

 much afraid that these birds might be totally exterminated, like Phala- 

 crocorax perspicillatus. 



