302 GRACULIDH, CORMORANTS. —GEN. 275. 
is difficult, owing to the great changes in plumage, the high normal variability in 
size, and their close inter-relation, which is such that the single genus Graculus 
does not appear capable of well founded division. Species are found all over the 
world, excepting the uttermost polar regions, and are usually very abundant in 
individuals ; they are all very much alike in their habits. Many are maritime, but 
others range over fresh waters as well. They are eminently gregarious, especially 
in the breeding season, when they congregate by thousands—the boreal kinds 
generally on rock-begirt coasts and islands, those of warm countries in the dense 
fringes of shrubbery. They often migrate in large serried ranks. The nest is rude 
and bulky ; the eggs are commonly two, of elliptical form and pale greenish color, 
overlaid with a white, chalky substance. They feed principally upon fish, and their 
voracity is proverbial, though probably no greater than in the cases of allied birds. 
Under some circumstances they have shown an intelligent docility ; witness their 
semi-domestication by the Chinese, who train them to fish for their masters, a close 
collar being slipped around the neck to prevent them from swallowing the booty. 
Fic. 198. Double-crested Cormorant. 
275. Genus GRACULUS Linnzus. 
* Tail of 14 feathers (and gular sac heart-shaped behind). 
Common Oormorant. Shag. Glossy greenish-black, feathers of back 
and wing coverts bronzy-gray, black-edged ; quills and tail grayish-black ; 
gular sac yellow, white-bordered; feet black; in summer a white flank 
patch, numerous long thready white plumes on head and neck, and a small 
black occipital crest ; length 36; wing 12-14; tail 6-7; tarsus over 2; bill 
4 along the gape. Atlantic Coast of Europe and North America; breeds in 
great numbers in Labrador and Newfoundland; S. to the Middle States in 
winter. Nurr., ii, 479; Aup., vi, 412, pl. 415; Lawr. in Bp., 876. CARBO. 
** Tail of 12 feathers. 
+ Gular sac convex, or nearly straight-edged, behind. 
White-tufted Cormorant. Glossy greenish-black, the back and wing 
coverts with the feathers gray, black-edged ; lateral crests, of a superciliary 
bundle of long curly filamentous feathers, white. Size of the last. Alaska. 
I have never seen this bird, and do not know of any specimen in this 
country: description compiled from the original account. Branpt, Bull. 
Imp. Acad. St. Petersburg, iii, 55; Bonap., Consp. Av. ii, 168; ScHLEGEL, 
Mus. Pays-Bas, iv, 22; Lawr. in Bp., 877; Exxior, pl. 51. CINCINNATUS. 
