2 Hutton, The Cormorants of New /calami. [ist'july 



common ancestor than the other new species, we may take the 

 former to represent the common ancestor. In a few cases this 

 may lead us astray ; but among so many uncertainties we must 

 do our best, and it is quite certain that we can never trace any 

 pedigree at all if we are to wait until we know the complete chain. 

 I make this explanation so that I may not be misunderstood 

 when I say that one of our species is descended from another. I 

 only mean that what I call the older species resembles the common 

 parent more than does what I call the new species. It would be 

 tedious to have to state this every time. 



Cormorants are found all over the world except in Polynesia 

 east of New Guinea, the Louisiade Archipelago, and New 

 Caledonia. This is surprising, because fish, on which Cormorants 

 feed, are very abundant round the Polynesian Islands. Another 

 remarkable circumstance is that all the birds, from all parts of 

 the world, are considered to belong to one genus — Phalacrocorax — 

 which, however, can be divided into several sub-genera. Most 

 of them live amongst rocks on the seashore, but some prefer 

 rivers and live far inland. These latter generally build their 

 nests in trees, considerable numbers consorting together. 



The New Zealand seas contain more different kinds of Cor- 

 morants than any other part of the world. While we have i 5 

 species, there are only 12 in North and South America, only 7 in 

 Asia, only 6 in Africa, only 5 in Australia, and only 3 in Europe. 



Our Cormorants can be divided into three groups. The first 

 consists of five species, three of which are also found in Australia, 

 and can be distinguished by their black legs and feet. The 

 second group contains only two species, both endemic,* which 

 have yellow or orange legs and feet and a double crest on the 

 head. The third group consists of eight species, all peculiar 

 to the New Zealand seas. These have pink or reddish legs and 

 feet, and the crest is either single or absent. 



The first group evidently comes to us from the north. The 

 Pied Shag ( P. varius), which is one of the two endemic species, 

 is closely related to P. gouldi and P. hypoleucus of Australia. 

 The second endemic species is P. brevirostris. This and P. mclano- 

 leucus, which occurs in the Moluccas, Australia, and New Cale- 

 donia, are so closely related, and have so many intermediate 

 links, that some naturalists are inclined to consider them as 

 varieties of one species. Now, if P. mclanoleucus is descended 

 from P. brevirostris, it must have been developed in New Zealand 

 and then migrated to Australia. If, on the contrary, P. brevi- 



* Used in the same strained sense as by Darwin, in his "Origin of Species," to 

 imply a species that is confined to a particular locality, 'the derivation of the word 

 (eu, in or amongst ; demos, the people) hardly justifies this use, and the term is 

 usually confined to medical science. — Eds. 



