PHALACROCORACID^E: CORMORANTS. 968 



No border of white feathers behind gular sac. 



Large : length about 3G.00. Crests cliiefly white. Northwest coast d. cincinnalus 



Medium : length 30.00-33.00. Crests chiefly black. N. Am. at large dUophus 



Small: length about 30.00. Crests black. S. Atlantic coast d. floridanus 



Small : length about 30.00. Crests partly w^hite. California coast \ d. albociliatus 



A border of white feathers behind gular sac. (Subgenus i'iguacarbo.) 



Very small : length under 30.00. Gulf coast and lower Mississippi Valley mezicanus 



Gular sac heart-shaped behind. 



No crests nor white flank-patches. Tail very short. (Subgenus Compsohalieus.) 



Sac dark blue, bordered by a fawn-colored gorget. Pacific coast penicillatus 



Two black crests in median line, and white flank-patches. No colored gorget. 

 Very large, with short wings and tail. (Subgenus Palla.sicarbo.) 



Shafts of tail-feathers white. Bering's Island (extinct) perspicillatus 



Medium or small ; tail more than \ as long as wing. (Subgenus Urile.) 



Frontal feathers not reaching bill, which is surrounded with red skin ; base of bill blue. Alaska 



bicristatus 

 Frontal feathers reaching bill. 



Larger : wing 10.00 or more. Pacific coast, northerly pelagicux 



Smaller : wing under 10.00. Pacific coast, southerly p. resplendens 



Note. — Tlie above analysis is available for winter plumages and young of most of the forms, if attention is paid 

 to number of tail-feathers, shape of gular .sac, relative lengths of wing and tail, feathering or nakedness of face, size of 

 bird as a whole, and geographical distribution. In case the genus Phalacrocorax should be restricted to its type, with 

 14 rectrices, the next name in order for the other species would be Carbo Lacep, 1801. There is no foundation in fact 

 for the reiterated statements that any of our species except P. carbo has normally more than 12 rectrices. 



(Subgenus Phalacrocorax.) 



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

 Tail of 14 feathers (here only among our species). Adult ^ ?: Gular sac heart-shaped be- 

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

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

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

 distinct bronzy-gray, black-edged; quills and tail grayish-black; feet black. In breeding 

 plumage, a white Hank-patch, numerous long thready white plumes scattered on head and 

 neck, and a black occipital and nuchal crest of plumes 1.00-1.50 long. Length 36.00 ; extent 

 60.00 ; wing 12.00-14.00 ; tail 6.00-7.00 ; tarsus about 2.50 ; bill 3.40 along ridge, 4.00 along 

 gape, with appreciably concave culmen, and large strong hook, the latter about one-third the 

 length of the wiiolo culmen. In winter no crests or white feathers on neck or flanks. Young : 

 Bill grayish-brown, black on top and at tip ; bare skin and sac yellow. Top of head and hind 

 neck brownish-black ; back and wing-coverts brownish -gray, the feathers with dark margins, 

 some of them finally edged with whitish. Throat brownish-white, and under parts generally 

 whitish, blackish along sides, dusky under wings and across lower belly. The naked young iu 

 the nest are unpleasant livid purplish objects, with protuberant bellies, and large feet; the first 

 down is blackish. Eggs .3-4, sometimes 5, bluish-groen, coated with white chalky substance, 

 2.00 X 1.75; nests of sticks, moss, and seaweeds, very filthy and offensive. Atlantic coast <>f 

 Europe and North America ; breeds on rocky shores of Labrador and Newfoundland ; S. to 

 Middle States in winter. The American bird has been thought by some authors to be sub- 

 specifically distinct from that of Europe (P. c. viacrorhi/nchus). 



(Subgenus Dilophalieus.) 



P. dilo'phus. (Gr. Sis, dis, twice; X6(f>os, /ojj/jos, crest. Fig. G7C).) Double-crestei> 

 Cormorant. Tail of 12 feathers. Gular sac convex behind. No colored gorget of featliers 

 bordering the sac Adult ^ 9 '■ Glossy greenish-black ; feathers of back and wings coppery- 

 gray, black -shafted, black-edged; two curly black lateral crests in brooding season, but few if 

 any white filaments over eyes and none along sides of neck ; no white fiank-patchos : iris green; 

 gular sac and lores orange ; eyelids and inside of moutli blue; foot black. Adults in winter 



