PELICANIDA. 568 
breast and all the under parts, very dark green, 
almost black; on the top of the head and higher 
part of the neck and throat are a great many long 
white feathers, giving those parts a very hoary ap- 
pearance; some of the dark feathers also at the back 
of the head and neck are much elongated, forming a 
sort of crest, or perhaps, rather, a mane; the chin, 
and round the base of the bill as far as to beneath 
the eye, is white; the back, scapulars and wing- 
coverts glossy bronze-brown, each feather margined 
with dark glossy green or purple, according to the 
light in which it is seen; the primary quills and tail 
are black; the tail-feathers are very strong and stiff; 
the rump, tail-coverts, flanks and thighs dark green, 
the same as the under parts; on each thigh is a con- 
spicuous large white spot, looking just as if it was a 
piece of a white shirt hanging out; the legs, toes 
and webs are black; the hind toe is very long, 
growing from the inside of the leg and completely 
joined to the inner toe by a membrane the same as 
the other toes: in this respect the Cormorant, the 
Shag and the Gannet differ from the rest of our 
swimming birds, who have only two webs—that is, 
the three front toes are joined by a web. In the 
autumn and winter plumage the white feathers on 
the head and neck, and the elongated dark feathers 
on the back of the neck forming the mane disappear, 
as does also the white spot on each thigh, and the 
white on the chin and at the base of the bill is not 
