A Trip to the Farallones, 



one on top of the head, the other on the 

 back of the neck. The Farallone cor- 

 morant may be known, in breeding plu- 

 mage, by two crests of white plumes, 

 one over each eye, and by the orange 

 color of the gular pouch or sack of 

 naked skin at the base of the bill. 

 The gular pouch of Brandt's cormorant 

 is dull blue, and of Baird's, dull red, 

 during the nesting period. 



Between the eggers and the gulls 

 the Brandt's cormorants had fared 

 badly, and we failed to discover any 

 nests containing eggs. It is worthy of 

 note that while Brandt's cormorant dec- 

 orates its nest around the sides with 

 bright, fresh seaweed, the other two 

 species build their nests exclusively of 

 dried weeds. We visited the nesting 

 place of the Farallone cormorants and 

 found many nests containing young. 

 They are, I think, the ugliest produc- 

 tions of nature with which I am famil- 

 iar, the texture of their bodies suggest- 

 ing a black, greasy kid glove. They 

 8i 



