CORMORANTS 



97 



DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT 



Phalacrocorax auritus auritus { Lesson j 



A. U. IJ. Xuniljcr wo See ( olur I'iiiU- y 



Other Names. — Crow Duck; Sha;,' ; Watc-r-'rurkcy ; 

 Lauytr; X'isKf' (><)(>sc. 



General Description. — Lenglli, 33 inches. I'rcvail- 

 mg color, grccniili-black. '1 liroat sac, convex behind. 



Color. — ."Xdults in Sum.mkr; Glossy greenish- 

 black ; feathers of back and wings, coppery-gray with 

 narrow distinct black edges and black-shafted; two 

 curly black crests on head; no zi'hitc flank patches or 

 zvhitc feathers behind throat sac: throat sac and lores, 

 orange ; bill, dusky ; feet, black ; iris, green ; eyelids, blue. 

 .■\dults in Wi.vter : No crests; eyelids, not blue; bill, 

 yellow, dusky on ridge ; gular sac, red in front, yellow 



ocher behind. Y(n;N(; : Plain <Iark tirown ; grayish or 

 whitish below. 



Nest and Eggs.— Nest: On the ground ; constructed 

 of Iwigs aiid weeds; sometimes on ledges of sea islanils 

 where built of fresh seaweed and kelp. H(;(;s : j to 4, 

 Ijluish-green with white chalky incrustation. 



Distribution. — Eastern North America ; breeds from 

 central .Saskatchewan, southern Keewatin, northeastern 

 Quebec and Newfoundland south to northern Utah, 

 South Dakota, .southern Minnesota, and Penobscot P.ay, 

 Maine. Winters from North Carolina (casually Massa- 

 chusetts) south to the Gulf coast; casual in Bermuda. 



Cormorants arc found in siiilahle ]/l;irc-s all 

 over North .America, i'hcy are wonderful divers 

 and .secure their [jrey wliile on tlieir submarine 

 excursions. They are very common on the coast 

 and may easily be seen at many places, as, for 

 example, on the Seal Rocks near the Cliff House 

 at San I'Vancisco, on Black 1 lorse Island off the 

 coast of .Maine, and on almost every buoy and 

 channel-stake aljoui tlic Iiarbors of hlorida. (.)n 

 rocky coasts their nests are built on cliffs over- 

 looking the sea, as on the Farallon Islands, Cali- 

 fornia, and the Three Arch Rock Islands of 

 Oregon. In the interior the nests are often built 

 on the ground or on the rushes in the islands of 

 lakes. In the swamps of the South, cypress trees 

 are used, and along the Gulf coast of i'lorida 

 large numbers breed on the low mangrove trees 

 that cover the Keys. 



Some years ago I visited a typical colony of 

 these birds in Big Lake, in eastern North Caro- 

 lina. Low-spreading cyjjress trees, their tops 

 reaching, as a rule, not more than fifteen feet 

 above the water, were the sites chosen for the 

 nests. Eighteen trees scattered along the swampy 

 shore for a mile and a half were thus occujiied. 

 A few trees contained but a single nest. Some 

 were occupied by two, while in others six, eight, 

 ten, and even twelve nests were noted. One tree 

 contained thirty-ciglit, all of which cf)nlained 

 either eggs or young. The number of occu[)ants 

 of a nest was in all cases either two or three. 



' )ne luuidrcd ;ind fifty inhabile*! nests were 

 counted in the community. 



The eggs were pale blui^h-white overlaid with 

 a chalky coating and were about two and one- 

 half inches long. When first hatched the young 

 are naked and look like little, animated, greas)- 

 rubber bags. In a few days they assume a thick 

 growth of black down. 



The food of these birds must have consisted 

 largely of eels, for in nearly every nest signs of 

 eels were found, and the young upon becoming 

 e.xcited disgorged fragments of eels which 

 showered down upon us as we attempted to climb 

 the trees. 



The Cormorants have many local names, such 

 as " Shag," " Lawyer," and " Nigger Goose." 



fhere are several subspecies of the Double- 

 crested Cormorant. These are : the Morida Cor- 

 morant (Phalacrocorax auritus floridanus) of 

 North Carolina, Florida, and the Gulf coast; the 

 White-crested Cormorant ( Phalacrocorax auritus 

 cincinatus) of .Maska : and the l'"arallon Cor- 

 morant {Phalacrocorax auritus albociliatiis) of 

 the coast and inland lakes of the Pacific slope. 



Market fishermen everywhere com])lain of the 

 inroads these birds make on the food fishes of 

 the sea, but a recent investigation carried out by 

 the Canadian Government jjroved beyond doubt 

 that the destruction wrought by Cormorants in 

 the Gulf of St. Lawrence has been overrated 

 greatly. T. Gilbf.kt I'i:.\kso.\. 



