726 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — STEGANOP'OJDES. 



especially considering the shape of the pouch ; the skin is usually brightly colored, and some- 

 times carunculate. The eyes, as a rule, are green — a color not common among birds. These 

 birds are highly psilopaedic as well as altricial ; the young are for some time blind, naked, and 

 perfectly helpless. 



Twenty-live species of Cormorants may be considered established. Their study is difficult, 

 owing to the great changes in plumage, the high normal variability in size, and their close 

 inter-relation, which is such that the single genus Graculus does not appear capable of well- 

 founded division. Species are found all over the world, excepting the uttermost polar regions, 

 and are usually very abundant in individuals ; they are all very much alike in their habits. 

 Many are maritime, but others range over fresh waters as well. They are eminently grega- 

 rious, especially in the breeding season, when they congregate by thousands — the boreal 

 kinds generally on rock-begirt coasts and islands, those of warm countries in the dense fringes 

 of shrubbery. They often migrate in large serried ranks. The nest is rude and bulky ; the 

 eggs are commonly two or three, of elliptical form and pale greenish color, overlaid with a 

 white chalky substance. The Cormorants feed principally upon fish, and their voracity is 

 proverbial, though probably no greater than that of allied birds. Under some circumstances 

 they show an intelligent docility ; witness their semi-domestication by the Chinese, who train 

 tliem to fish for their masters, a close collar being slipped around the neck to prevent them 

 from swallowing the bocty. 

 $03. PHALACRO'CORAX. (Gr. <f)a'kaKpoK6pa^, ijlialakrohorax ; Lat. j)^"^^(^c^'OCorax, a cormo- 

 rant, sea-crow, corvus marinus : (f>a\aKp6s, phalaJcros, bald, and Kopa^, Jcorax, a raven.) 

 Cormorants. Character as above said. There appears to be but one genus in the family, 

 but several groups of species may be cited subgenerically. There are three such groups among 

 our species, respectively exemplified by P. carbo, P. dilophus, and P. violaceus. 



Analysis of Species. 

 Tail of 14 feathers. 



Gular sac heart-shaped behind, bordered with white carbo 750 



Tail of 12 feathers. 



Gular sac convex or nearly straight-edged behind. 

 No white border behind gular sac. 



Lateral crests of curly feathers on sides of head. 



Largest: length about 36.00. Developing white filaments on head in breeding season. 



N. W. Coast cinclnnatus 752 



Medium : length 30.00-33.00. Scarcely or not developing white filaments on head in breed- 

 ing season. At large dilophus 751 



Small: length 30.00 or less. Probably not developing white filaments. S. E. Coast 



floridanus 753 

 Small : size of the last. Developing white filaments. S. "W. Coast. . . . alhociliatus 753a 

 A border of white feathers behind the sac. 



Very small: length about 24.00 mexicanus 754 



Gular sac heart-shaped behind. (No lateral crests. ) 



Sac dark-blue, bordered by a fawn-colored gorget. Feathers of back distinct, dark-edged 



penicillatus 756 

 Sac not bordered with a colored gorget. No distinct colored edges of feathers of back. 



Shafts of tail-feathers said to be white perspicillatus 756 



Shafts of tail-feathers not white. 



Frontal feathers not reaching bill, which is entirely surrounded with red skin ; base of 



bill blue bicristatus 757 



Frontal feathers reaching bill. 



Larger: wing 10.00 or more violaceus 758 



Smaller: wing under 10.00 bairdi 769 



750. P. car'bo. (Lat. carbo, carbon : from the black color.) Common Cormorant. Shag. 

 Adult (J 9 : Tail of 14 feathers (here only among our species). Gular sac heart-shaped 

 behind. Bill blackish, whitish along edges and at base below. Iris green. Skin about eyes 

 livid greenish, orange under the eye ; sac yellow, bordered behind by a gorget of white 

 feathers. General plumage glossy greenish-black ; feathers of back and wing-coverts distinct 



