

CARBO. BIRDS. 



Gen. 14. CAKBO, Meyer. Pelecanus, Lin. Phalacrocorax, 

 C u v . Hydrocorax, Vieill. 



Bill middle-sized, or long, straight, compressed ; upper mandi- 

 ble much bent at the tip, the lower compressed ; base of the 

 bill involved in a membrane which extends to the throat ; 

 face and throat naked ; nostrils basal, linear, and concealed ; 

 legs strong, short, situated far behind ; all the toes included 

 in a web, and the middle claw serrated. 



The birds which compose this genus are very expert divers, and swim with ease 

 under water. They feed much on river fish, especially eels, and they are more ad- 

 dicted than the pelicans to perch on trees. Their moulting is partially double. 



C. cormoranus, Meyer. (P. Carbo, Lin.) The Cormorant or Cor- 

 vorant. Top of the head, neck, breast, lower parts, and rump, 

 blackish green, with reflections; small whitish stripes on the neck ; 

 feathers of the back and wings brown cinereous or bronze in the 

 middle, bordered with blackish green ; quills and tail black ; tail 

 of 14 feathers ; guttural pouch small, yellowish ; iris green ; legs 

 black ; bill 2 inches 3 lines longer than the head. 27 to 29 inches 

 long. Inhabits Northern Europe. B. Shaw, xiii. pi. 10. 

 The Cormorant is not uncommon on many of our own shores, building its nest of 

 sticks, seaware, and grass, on the highest parts of cliffs that impend over the sea, 

 and laying three or more green eggs about the size of those of a goose. Cormorants 

 were formerly occasionally trained in this country to catching fish for the table. For 

 this purpose they were kept with great care in the house, and when taken out for 

 fishing, they had a leathern thong tied round their neck, to prevent them from swal- 

 lowing their prey. Mr Patrick Neill, a zealous and able naturalist, has long pre- 

 served tame specimens in his collection at Canonmills. 



C. graculus, Meyer. The Shag or Green Cormorant. Head, throat, 

 neck, and lower parts greenish-black ; feathers of the back and 

 wings cinereous in the middle, bordered with black ; tail very 

 long, graduated, conical, composed of twelve feathers ; bill 1 inch 

 10 lines longer than the head. 23 to 24 inches long. Inhabits 

 Europe, &c. B. Lervin's Brit. Birds, vii. pi. 264. 



C. cristatus, Tern. Crested Cormorant. Body glossy green, obscure 

 beneath ; head crested ; bill very long, slender, 2 inches 4 lines 

 longer than the head ; tail very short, composed of 12 feathers. 2 

 feet 1 or 2 inches long. N. Europe. B Pen. Brit. Zool. ii. pi. 47 



C. pygmceus, Tern. Dwarf Cormorant. Plumage above blackish 

 cinereous, each feather bordered with a black band ; bill 1 inch 

 2 lines shorter than the head; tail long, graduated, of 12 feathers; 

 scapulars and coverts of the wings long ; breast greenish ; legs 

 cinereous. 21 inches long. Eastern Europe. Tew. Man. 90L 



Gen. 15. TACHYPKTES, Vieill Pelecanus, Lin/ 

 Bill long, stout, edged, depressed at the base, flattened at the 

 sides, with a suture above ; tips of both mandibles strongly 

 curved, and the upper terminated by a very pointed hook ; 

 nostrils more or less concealed, and linear ; legs placed far 

 back, very short ; tarsus shorter than the toes, and half-fea- 



