GRACULUS FLOPJDANUS. G35 



basally; gnlar poncb, passing from nearly white anteriorly, tlirougli rich yellow and 

 then orange, into intense dragon's-blood- or brick-red at the base, and with a blackish 

 suffusion anteriorly ; loose, flabby skiu of the lores and orbital region, rich orange- 

 yellow ; eyelids, dark dragon's-bloodred ; iris, clear pearl-white ; naked poition of the 

 tibia, tarsi, and feet, intense orange-red, so deep as to have the appearance of having 

 been dyed. [ Without the mandibular process.] 



706, <? ad.: Pyramid Lake, May 28, 18G8. 62— 101— 2.ii— 18i. Weight, 17 

 pounds. Same remarks. [ Without the mandibular j)roccss.] 



570-679, eggs ; island in Pyramid Lake, May 16, 1868. One hundred and nine 

 eggs, from as many nests. Nests, mere heaps of gravel, with a slight depression on top, 

 crowded together ou a narrow point of the island, only a few feet above the surface of 

 the lake. 



Family GEACULIDiE— Cormorants. 

 Graculus dilophus. 



Doiible-crcstod Cormorant. 



/?. fl.orklaims. 

 {Pali-tsik'-ivij-hc or Pah-tsik' -we of the Paiutes.) 



Phalacrocorax floridanus, Audubon, Orn. Biog., Ill, 1835, 387; B. Am., oct. ed., 



VI, 430, pi. 417. 

 Graculus floridanus, BoNAP., Consp. Av., II, 1855, 172. — Lawrence, in Baird's 



Birds N. Am., 1858, 879.— Baied, Cat. N. Am. Birds, 1859, No. 624. 

 Graculus dilophus var. Jloridanm, Coues, Key, 1872, 303; Check List, 1873, No. 



530a. 

 Graculus dilophus. b. floridanus, Coues, Birds N.W., 1874, 587. 



This Coi"morant was very abundant at Pyramid Lake and along the 

 lower portion of the Truckee River, being the only species of the feniily 

 occurring in that vicinity. It was found from May until August, but in 

 December none were observed. Small congregations were frequently to be 

 seen during the summer-time, perched upon the snags far out in the lake, the 

 latter being nearly submerged cotton- wood trees which marked, at that time, 

 the former course of the river when the lake occupied more restricted limits.^ 



' As is the case with the Great Salt Lake, Pyramid Lake has risen many feet 

 within the last few years, the principal encroachment being on the low land adjacent 

 to the mouth of the Truckee River, which at the time of our last visit was thrown a 

 mile or more back from its former location, as marked by the line of partly submerged 

 trees alluded to above. 



