320 PHALACKOCOUACID.E 



Order STEG AN O POD ES. 



Family PHALACROCORACID^. 



Sub-family PHALACROCORA.CIN^. 



Gen-O-S IF'I^.A.Iju^OIROCOIS.^^C AV/.s.s-ov* 



Phalacrocorax carbo. 



BLACK" COKMOKAN'l'. 

 Pi'.lncauus citrhn, Linn., Syst. Nat., Vol. [., p. il'-i (17(10). 

 I'hnlacrocnra.i- carhovhs, Gould, iids. Austr., fol., Vol. VII,, \>\. I'>fi (ISIS). 

 Phntacrocura.i- iinv(e-/io/landi(i^, Gould, Tlaiidbk. Bds. Au.str. , \'ol. II., p. l^S (1^(15). 

 Phalacrocorax ciirho, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. XXVI., p. :U(i (1S98); Siiarpe, 

 Hand-I. Bd.s., Vol. I., p. i'M (1899). 



Adult mai.k (in ln-eeding plumage). — Genrrol rolmir aliinv nml lirh,trJilai-L\ ijlvsseihmtli bluish- 

 green, tlte, frathp.r^ mi tlif lo/crr lu'ck hni-inij a pnr/i/ifh xliade : ft'athi'/rs of llie back, scapulars and 

 iipper wiiig-corcr/s hroirn, glossed icith br<in~.e, nud margined iri/.h bluish-green, the quills darker and 

 liaring a broif^g-ivash, more pronuinicerl on Ihe outer a'l/is nj the sci-oiidaries, the bluish black Diargins 

 uarroiver and less distinct, and a-lncli. are entire} if lost on the outirmost primaries : tail-feathers black 

 >vith a bluish-green gloss ; npjier pari <d throat dull n'hite : narrou- featlo'rs on the cnarn of tlie head, 

 and extending down the greater portion of the neck, irhite : on each /liiuk a jiafch of n-Iixle feaf/iers ; 

 bill whitish-lior n colour, br<orii along Ihe culmen, /leshy or ijellowisli-u'h.ite at the base ; g%clar sac rich 

 yellow; legs and feel black : iris emerald-green. Total length in the flesh ,l.'po iia-hes, nnng LIS, 

 tail 7, billii-75, tarsus .'--I'l. 



Adult kkmalk. — Si7ailar in. plnmuge tu tlie male. 



Distrdintidu. — Oueensland, New South Wales, X'ictoria, South Australia, Western Australia, 

 North-western .Australia, Northern Territory of South Australia, Tasmania. 



/~¥^HE Order Steganopodes, represented in Australia by the Cormorants, Darter, Gannets, 

 -L Frigate-birds, Tropic-birds and Pelican, is brought into greater prominence by its 

 various members feeding almost e.xclusively on live fish. They frei]uent the rocky islets 

 lying off the coast, estuaries of rivers, the bays and inlets of the mainland, and the Cormorants, 

 Darters and Pelicans also visit the rivers and lakes of the interior, breeding usually in large 

 numbers together and sometimes incubating with one another. 



The range of the Black Cormorant, or Shag, is world-wide. It is generally distributed in 

 favourable situations over the greater portion of Eastern, Southern and South-western .Australia, 

 Tasmania and some of the adjacent islands. According to Mr. Ogilvie-Grant in the" Catalogue 

 of Birds in the British Aluseum,"' its ultra-Australian range consists of the .\tlantic coast of 

 North America, from Hudson's Bay to Georgia, South Greenland, Iceland, Faroes, thence 

 across Europe and Asia to Kamtschatka, southwards to the Cape of Good Hope, and from the 

 Mediterranean to the Malay I'eninsula, New Zealand and Chatham Islands. 



Frequently these birds may be seen associated together in small llocks on sand banks, on 



the flats at the entrance of tidal rivers, and often perched on piles or snags in rivers. The 



remaining upright piles of an old jetty, or channel beacons, as maybe seen by their whitened 



surface, are favourite perches for this species, and in fact all species of Cormorants. The very 



• Cat. Bds. Brit Mus.. \'ol. XXVI., p. 347 (1S98). 



