50 WATER BIRDS 
when the half-grown Cormorant sits shrugged up into 
a discouraged-looking bunch, or loils listlessly against 
his fellow nestlings. Around (and beneath the nest if 
in a tree) are bits of fish and other debris, showing that 
the supply often exceeds the demand. 
122, BRANDT CORMORANT. — Phalacrocorax 
penicillatus. 
FaMILyY : hie Cormorants. 
Length: 35.00. 
Adults: Head and neck iridescent black, with a patch of whitish sur- 
rounding base of gular sac; under parts iridescent dark green ; 
scapulars and wing-coverts dark green, edged with black. 
Nuptial Plumage: Uppermost scapulars and sides of neck ornamented 
with long stiff white filaments ; gular sac blue. 
Young: Head, neck, and rump dark brown; rest of upper parts paler 
brown ; under parts dusky brown, paler on throat. 
Geographical Distribution: Pacific coast of North America from Cape 
St. Lucas to Washington. 
Breeding Range: Islands of the Pacific from Lower California to Wash- 
ington. 
Breeding Season: Approximately, May 1 to July 20. 
Nest and Eggs: Identical in appearance with those of Farallone cor- 
morant. Size 2.40 X 1.50. 
THIS is the most common cormorant of the California 
coast, and may be distinguished by its stiff white feathers 
on sides of neck and by its blue gular sac. JRookeries 
are found on seal rocks near Cypress Point, Monterey, at 
Santa Cruz, and on the Farallones. These birds nest in 
colonies on the steepest crags and ledges of those islands. 
About the middle of May they may be seen carrying sea- 
weed and kelp to their chosen site. There they fashion a 
new shallow, bowl-shaped nest, which becomes cemented 
with guano; or perhaps they redecorate an old one 
