255 



LONG- TAILED CORMORANT. 



Carlo longicaudus, SWAINS. 

 PLATE XXXI. 



Bill yellow ; general plumage black ; scapulars and middle 

 wing-covers light grey, with a black terminal spot and white 

 tip ; tail long. 



THE Cormorants, like several other natural groups 

 of plain coloured and unattractive birds, have been 

 much neglected ; and there probably exists twice the 

 number of species, even in our museums, to what 

 have been described. This, which is the only one 

 we have yet received from the Gambia, is very small, 

 and is remarkable for its long tail of twelve feathers ; 

 the bill is short and yellow, but the naked temple 

 and orbits, from their appearance in the preserved 

 specimen, seem to have been red. The base of the 

 rictus and of the lower mandible is feathered, and 

 there are others, very short, reaching to the front of 

 the nostrils. The upper part of the head and neck, 

 the sides, and the ears, are brown, but not glossy, 

 and the edges of the feathers are pale ; this colour 

 changes between the shoulders, and becomes deep 

 black as far as the tail, which is tinged with cine- 

 reous; the scapular-covers are of a greyish-white, 



