344 



CORMORANT GROUP 



in haviiiLj the oil-L^land tufted ; but the Ste^anopodes are pccuhar in 

 having the tongue rudimentary, and also by the frequent welding of 

 the merry-thought or furcula with the upper end of the large breast- 

 bone. No constancy is to be found in the degree of development of 

 the pair of blind appendages (ca.'ca) to the intestine. The feathers 

 have either no after-shafts or merelj' rudiments thereof ; and there 

 are no featherless tracts on the sides of the neck. No distinctive 

 characteristics can be drawn from the eggs ; but an im.portant difference 



from the ducks is to be found 

 in the condition of the young 

 when first hatched ; these 

 being in all cases blind and 

 helpless, so as to require feed- 

 ing by their parents for a 

 considerable time, although 

 in some instances they are 

 naked, and in others clothed 

 with down. Most of the 

 birds of this group are of 

 large size, and none are very 

 small, while all frequent the 

 coast or the open sea. 



In habits they differ con- 

 siderably, the frigate-birds 

 and tropic -birds spending 

 most of their time in the air, 

 while cormorants and gannets 

 prefer the rocks and the 

 water. Cormorants are in- 

 deed not far removed in their 

 general habits from smews and mergansers, to which they approximate 

 to a considerable degree in their outward appearance. Probably, how- 

 ever, tiiis resemblance, such as it is, may be attributed to adaptation 

 to a very similar mode of life ; and the affinities of the Stcganopodes 

 are apparently much closer to the Accipitrcs, or diurnal birds-of-prey. 



No one is, of course, likely to confuse a cormorant or a shag 

 with any other British bird, or to fail to recognise them when met 

 with, but it may be well to mention that the family fPhalacrocoracitkt) 

 to which they belong is characterised by the small and almost closed 

 nostrils, and the long and slender beak, which may be either forked 

 or straight (darters) at the tip. All of them arc diving birds, living 



ROWLAND WARD STUOlOS 



rOKMuKANT. 



