THE COMMON CORMORANT 565 
ORDER STEGANOPODES 
FAMILY PELECANID 
Feet entirely webbed, or all four toes connected by webs. 
THE COMMON CORMORANT 
PHALACROCORAX CARBO 
Tail of fourteen feathers. Winter—head, neck, and all the under parts, 
black, with green reflections ; close to the base of the bill a broad white 
gorget ; on the neck a few faint whitish lines; feathers of the back and 
wings bronze-colour bordered with black; primaries and tail black ; 
beak dusky ; orbits greenish yellow ; irides green; feet black. Summer 
—feathers of the head elongated, forming a crest ; on the head and neck 
numerous long silky white feathers ; on the thighs a patch of pure white. 
Young birds brown and grey, the gorget greyish white. Length three 
feet. Eggs greenish white, chalky. 
PHALACROCORAX, the modern systematic name of the genus Cor- 
morant, is given by Willughby as a synonym of the Coot, and with 
much propriety, for translated into. English it means ‘ Bald Crow’. 
Applied to the Cormorant, it must be considered as descriptive of 
the semblance of baldness produced by the white feathers of the 
head during the breeding season. The Cormorant Willughby 
describes under the name of Corvus aquaticus, or Water Raven. 
The English name, ‘ Corvorant’, is clearly Corvus vorans, a voracious 
Raven ; and ‘ Cormorant ’ perhaps a corruption of Corvus marinus, 
Sea Raven. 
Seaside visitors are pretty sure of seeing more than one specimen 
of this bird, if they care to look for them, for the Cormorant fre- 
quents all parts of the coast as well as lakes and rivers, and does 
not leave us at any period of the year. Often we may see two or 
three of these birds flying along together at a slight distance above 
the surface of the sea, distinguished by their black hue, long out- 
stretched neck, and rapid waving of the wings. They fly swiftly 
in a straight line, and seem to be kept from dipping into the water 
by making ahead at fullspeed. There is no buoyancy in their flight, 
no floating in the air, or soaring; their sole motive for using their 
narrow but muscular wings is clearly that they may repair to or 
from some favourite spot with greater speed than they can attain 
by swimming or diving. Occasionally, while engaged in a boating 
expedition, we may encounter a party of three or four occupied 
in fishing. They are shy, and will not allow a near approach, but 
even at a distance they may be distinguished by their large size, 
sooty hue, long necks, and hooked beaks. They sit low in the water, 
often dipping their heads below the surface, and in this posture 
advancing, in order that their search for food may not be impeded 
