160 



TOTIPALMATE SWIMMERS — STEGANOPODES. 



Phalacrocorax pelagicus. 



a. Pelagicus. THE ALEUTIAN VIOLET-GREEN CORMORANT. 



Phalacrocorax pelagicus, Pall. Zoog. Rosso-As. II. 1826, 303, pi. 76. 



Graculus Bairdii, Dall, Avifauna Aleutian Islands from Onalashka westward, 1874, p. 6 (not of 

 Coopek). 



b. Robustus. THE ALASKAN VIOLET-GREEN CORMORANT. 



Graculus violaceus (part), La we. in Baird's B. N. Am. 1858, 8S1. — Baird, Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, 



no. 627. — Coues, Key, 1872, 305 ; Check List, 1873, no. 535. 

 Pliitbtcrocorax violaceus, Ridgw. Nom. N. Am. B. 1881, no. 646. —Coues, 2d Check List, 1882, no. 758. 

 Phalacrocorax pelagicus robustus, Ridgw. MS. 



c. Resplendens. THE VIOLET-GREEN CORMORANT; BAIRD'S CORMORANT. 



Phalacrocorax resplendens, Aud. Orn. Biog. V. 1839, 148; Synop. 1839, 304; B. Am. VI. 1843, 430, 



pi. 419. 

 Phalacrocorax violaceus resplendens, Ridgw. Nom. N. Am. B. 1881, no 646 a. — Coues, 2d Check 



List, 1882, no. 759. 

 Graculus Bairdii, " Gruber, MSS." Cooper, Pr. Ac. Nat. Sci. Philad. Jan. 1865, 5 (Farallon 



Islands, coast of California). 

 Graculus violaceus, var. Bairdii, Hknshaw, Orn. Wheeler's Exp. 1876, 276 (Santa Cruz I., Cal. ; June). 

 White-patch Cormorant, Cooper, 1. c. 



Hab. Pacific coast of North America, from Alaska to California. True pelagicus restricted to 

 the Aleutian Islands, Kamtschatka, Kuriles, and (in winter) Japan ; robustus to the coast of Alaska, 

 from Norton Sound to Sitka ; and resplendens to Washington Territory, and southward as far as 

 Cape St. Lucas and Mazatlan. 



Sp. Char. Tail-feathers twelve. Forehead feathered down to the base of the culmen. Adult: 

 Head and neck rich silky metallic violet, the pileum and lower part of the neck more blue ; back, 

 rump, and entire lower parts rich silky metallic bottle-green ; scapulars and wing-coverts similar, 



but tinged with purplish-bronze ; 

 primaries and tail dull black. In the 

 breeding-season, the neck, lower back, 

 and rump adorned with narrow white 

 filamentous feathers, and the flanks 

 covered with a large patch of pure 

 white ; pileum with two erectile flat- 

 tened tufts of broad, rather loose- 

 webbed feathers — one tuft on the 

 forehead, the other on the occiput. 

 Bill dusky ; gular sac and naked 

 lores reddish brown or coral-red ; iris 

 light green ; legs and feet deep black. 

 In winter, the white filamentous 

 feathers of the neck and rump, and 

 the white flank-patches entirely ab- 

 sent ; the tufts of the head absent, 

 or but slightly developed. Young: 

 Uniform brownish dusky, lighter 

 (nearly brownish gray) on the head, 

 the upper parts darker and glossy, 

 with a faint bottle-green reflection, the scapulars with indistinct dull black borders. Iris brown. 

 Downy young: Uniform dark soot; brown. 



a. Pelagicus: Total length, about 26.50-29.50 inches; wing, 9.50-10.60 (average, 10.10); 

 tail. 6.00-6.75 (6.30) ; culmen, 1.70-2.00 (1.85) ; tarsus, 1.90-2.15 (2.02) ; outer toe, 2.80-3.30 

 (3.05). [Eight specimens.] 



P. pelagicus resplendens, d <»</., in ivinter. 



