162 NESTS AND EGGS OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



sometimes of vast extent. The nest is a heap of earth scraped up to the 

 height of a few inches. This species has a large gular pouch, but its 

 greatest development is found in the next species, the Brown Pelican. 



641. Brown Pelican — pelecanus fuscus. White, covered with a 

 white calcareous deposit; elliptical in form; two or three in number, and 

 measure 3.00 by 2.00, with considerable variation. The Brown Pelican is 

 exclusively maritime, inhabiting both coasts of America from the tropical 

 regions to North Carolina and California. It is an abundant bird and a 

 constant resident in Florida. When breeding, the Brown Pelicans select 

 particular localities and will return to them year after year to nest. Mr. 

 Maynard mentions Pelican Island in the Indian River as a place where 

 thousands congregate for this purpose from miles around. At this place 

 he says the eggs are deposited early in March, a month earlier than those 

 laid on the west coast of Florida. The nests are bulky structures placed 

 on the ground or in trees, composed of sticks, lined with weeds, 

 grass, etc. 



642. Common Cormorant — phalacrocorax carbo. Bluish-green, 

 coated with a white chalky substance; three or four in number; size 

 2.60 by 1.75. The Cormorants are curious birds of strange figure, and 

 the outer surface of the plumage in most species normally is of a dark 

 lustrous greenish-black but subject to great changes, making their study 

 very difficult. The eyes as a rule are green, a color rarely seen in birds. 

 They feed principally upon fish and their voracity is proverbial. They 

 have a small gular pouch, forming a naked space under the bill; this is 

 usually of bright color. The eggs are, as far as known, pale greenish in 

 color and elliptical in form. This species breeds in vast numbers on the 

 rocky shores of Labrador and Newfoundland ; making the nest upon the 

 tops of ledges or on projections and in the crevices of precipitous rocks, 

 which are covered with the excrement of the birds. It is composed of 

 sticks, moss and sea weed and is very filthy and offensive. Like all the 

 Cormorants this species is gregarious and breed in communities. They 

 are all known under the common name of Shag. 



Hab Coasts of the North Atlantic, south in winter on the coast of the United States, casually, to the 

 Carolinas; breeding (formerly) from Massachusetts northward. 



648. Double-crested Cormorant — phalacrocorax dilophus. Eggs 

 same as those of the preceding species, but average smaller, about 2.30 

 by 1.40. Nesting habits the same, but it also nests in hollow trees, stubs, 

 etc. This is the commonest species and the only one diffused over the 

 interior. 



Hah Kastern coast of North America, breeding from the Bay of Fundy northward; southward in the 

 interior to the Great Lakes and Wisconsin. 



