I'i THE BIRDS OF MAINE 



grayish brown, the feathers with small white V-shaped spots ; below white 

 somewhat margined with brown. Wing 19.00 to 20.00 ; culmen 4.10. 



Geog. Dist. — Atlantic coasts and islands, south in winter to Gulf of Mexico 

 and Africa ; breeds from Nova Scotia and British Isles northward. 



County Records. — Cumberland; winter resident, apparently common, 

 (Brown, C. P. B. p. 33). Hancock ; an adult male was killed near Mt. Desert 

 in May, 1898, and seen by me at S. L. Crosby's, (Knight). Kennebec ; acci- 

 dental, one specimen, (Hamlin, 10th An. Rep. Sec. Me. B'd. Agr. p. 173). 

 Knox ; very rare, (Rackliff). Sagadahoc ; common spring and fall, (Spinney). 

 Washington ; common down the bay, (Boardman). 



This species is rather irregular or uncertain in its occurrence 

 off our coast, seemingly being most often noted in September 

 and October and again in April and May, though possibly an 

 occasional one may winter. The nesting grounds are north 

 of the State, the nearest one being possibly Gannet Rocks in 

 the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The birds breed in colonies, laying 

 a single egg in a nest of seaweed, mud and grass, or in many 

 cases laying on the bare rock, nearly always nesting on shelves 

 of cliffs overhanging the sea. The egg is chalky white in 

 color, unspotted and covered with a skin of calcareous matter. 

 One taken at the Magdalen Islands, July 20, 1885, measures 

 .S.06 X 1.95. The food consists entirely of fish. They dive 

 headlong into the water after their food, re-appearing with 

 their catch in their bill. 



Family PHALACROCORACID^. Cormorants. 

 Genus PHALACROCORAX Brisson. 

 Subgenus PHALACROCORAX. 



119. Phalacrocorax carbo (Linn.). Cormorant; Shag; 



Crow-duck. 



Plumage in summer adults : flanks with white patch and head, upper neck 

 and throat sprinkled with white ; white at base of lower mandible ; white 

 spot on flanks ; upper back, scapulars and wing coverts olive brown bordered 

 by black; general appearance of bird above and below of a glossy black 

 except as above noted. Plumage in winter adults: differs chiefly in lacking 

 white on head. Immature plumage: sides of head, neck and the breast 



