CORMORANT. NAT AT. PHALACROCORAX. 445 



than the second, which is the longest in the wing. Tail 

 rounded, of mean length, stiff and elastic. 



Legs abdominal, short, strong. Feet of four toes, all con- 

 nected by a membrane. Outer toe the longest, the others 

 gradually shortening to the hinder one. Tarsi reticulated. 

 The upper part of the toes scutellated. 



In no genus of the earlier writers has the necessity of di- 

 vision been more apparent than in Pelecanus, which, in ad- 

 dition to its typical representatives, contained the Gannets 

 and Cormorants, both of them groups distinguished by pro- 

 minent characters, in habits as well as in form. This sepa- 

 ration has been effected by CUVIER, TEMMINCK, MEYER, 

 and other eminent ornithologists, under various generic titles; 

 but as priority of application is entitled to the preference, I 

 have retained that of Phalacrocoraoc, originally given to the 

 present genus by BRISSON, and adopted by Dr FLEMING 

 and some others. In form the Cormorants approach nearer 

 to the natatorial groups already described, than the rest of 

 this family, and (like the Alcada and Colymbida) their legs 

 are placed far backwards, having the tibiae only partially 

 free. Their wings are also much shorter than in the suc- 

 ceeding genera, indicating a difference in habits and mode of 

 living. They are excellent divers, pursuing their course be- 

 neath the surface with great celerity, and thus securing their 

 prey, which consists entirely of fish. In swimming, the body 

 is deeply immersed, scarcely more than the head and upper 

 part of the neck being visible. Upon land they sit in an 

 erect posture, and from the partial freedom of the tibial joint, 

 are able to walk with less difficulty than the diving birds of 

 the preceding two families ; and in which action they are al- 

 so materially assisted by the support they obtain from the 

 stiff, though elastic, feathers of the tail. They possess an 

 unexpected power of grasping with the toes, and, in common 

 with other members of the family, frequently not only perch, 

 but build their nests upon trees, in which respect an affinity 



