LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 271 



Egg dates. — California : Fifty-eight records, April 3 to July 15 ; 

 twenty-nine records, May 28 to June 20. Lower California : Four 

 records, March 28 to April 23. 



PHALACROCORAX PELAGICUS PELAGICUS Pallas. 



PELAGIC CORMORANT. 



HABITS. 



I have never been able to recognize any constant characters by 

 which the two northern forms of the pelagic cormorant, pelagicus 

 and rohustvs, could be satisfactorily separated. And if the two 

 forms are subspecifically distinct, the breeding ranges of the two 

 have never been satisfactorily separated. The birds of southern 

 Alaska seem to be identical with those of the Aleutian Islands and 

 the birds of the American coast of Bering Sea seem to be similar 

 to those of the Asiatic coast. Therefore Phalacrocorax pelagicus 

 rohustus seems to have no standing. For these reasons and because 

 I am unable to satisfactorily separate the references between the two 

 forms, I prefer to treat them both together, for certainly their life 

 histories are similar, I shall use the name pelagic cormorant to 

 cover both forms. 



Nesting. — Throughout the whole length of the Aleutian chain we 

 found this small, slender cormorant sitting in little groups on the 

 rocks about the promontories or flying out to meet us and to satisfy 

 their curiosity by circling about our boat; they seemed far from 

 timid and were but little disturbed by our frequent shooting for 

 they returned again and again to look us over. Here they breed in 

 colonies on the highest, steepest and most inaccessible rocky cliffs, 

 safe from the depredations of foxes and men and shrouded in the 

 prevailing fogs of that dismal region. The nest is placed on some 

 narroAv ledge on a perpendicular cliff facing the sea; it is made 

 mainly of seaweeds and grasses, is added to from j^ear to year and 

 becomes quite bulky. 



On the Siberian coast their nesting habits are similar ; Dr. J. A. 

 Allen (1905) quotes Mr. N. G. Buxton's notes as follows: 



At this place, and six miles farther south, at Matuga Point, there are sev- 

 eral rocky islets with precipitous sides where thousands of them nest. Their 

 nests are placed in the most inaccessible places on top of ledges and projec- 

 tions. The nests are large and bulky and composed of kelp and seaweed. 

 The eggs are chalky-white, with a bluish tinge. Five to seven constitute a 

 clutch. The eggs are not palatable on account of the strong flavor, although 

 the Koraks gather and eat them. The height of the nesting season is reached 

 by the 10th of June. The males assist in the work of incubation. 



In southern Alaska the pelagic cormorant was found breeding 

 abundantly at various localities by all of the expeditions sent to 



