WHITE-BREASTED CORMORANT. 63 



The tail is less than half the wing length and more than twice the length of the 

 metatarsus, which is generally exceeded by the culmen chord. 



This genus is Antarctic in distribution and is composed of birds of bright 

 coloration, usually white underneath and often with facial ornaments of fleshy 

 caruncles. 



46. Hypoleucus perthi. PIED CORMORANT. 



Gould, Vol. VII., pi. 68 (pt. XL), June 1st, 1843. Mathews, Vol. IV., pt. 2, pi. 222, Feb. 



17th, 1915. 



Carbo varius perthi Mathews, Austral Av. Rec., Vol. I., pt. 4, p. 88, Sept. 18th, 1912 : Perth, 



West Australia. 



Hypoleucus varius whitei Mathews, Birds Austr., Vol. IV., pt. 2, p. 187, Feb. 17th, 1915 : 



Lake Albert, South Australia. 



DISTRIBUTION. Extra-tropical Australia and Tasmania. 



Adult male. Sides of the upper back, scapulars, upper- and under-surface of 

 the wings dark oil-green with very narrow edgings to the feathers ; head, hind -neck, 

 a narrow line on the middle of the upper back and entire lower back, rump, and 

 upper tail-coverts blue-black like the flanks and outer aspect of the thighs ; quills 

 and tail-feathers uniform black ; sides of the face, sides of neck, throat, fore-neck, 

 and entire surface pure white. Bill dark horn ; bare space in front of the eye bright 

 orange, eyelid and rim round the eye rich indigo-blue ; throat and cheeks light 

 bluish -ash ; iris pale green ; feet black. Total length 800 mm. ; culmen 70, wing 

 324, tail 150, tarsus 66. 



Adult female. Similar to the adult male. 



Immature. This individual, which has nearly attained its full plumage, is 

 conspicuous by having some brown feathers scattered among the white on the fore- 

 neck and sides of the neck. 



Nestling. Naked . 



Nest. Similar to that of H. fuscescens, sometimes placed on the ground, at 

 others in trees. 



Eggs. Clutch, two ; similar to those of other members of the family ; axis 

 55 to 58, diameter 35 to 37. 



Breeding-season. September to November ; March to May. 



Distribution and forms. Apparently confined to Southern Australia outside 

 the tropics and not ranging to New Zealand, where a different species has been 

 confused with this. We are not recognising any subspecies at present, as the 

 characters hitherto used for differentiating " species " in connection with this group 

 in New Zealand have proved unstable. 



47. Hypoleucus fuscescens. WHITE-BREASTED CORMORANT. 



Gould, Vol. VII., pi. 69 (pt. XL), June 1st, 1843. Mathews, Vol. IV., pt. 2, pi. 221, Feb. 

 17th, 1915. 



Hydrocorax fuscescens Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., Vol. VIII., p. 86, March 15th, 1817 : 



" Australasie " = Tasmania. 



Carbo hypoleucos Brandt, Bull. Sci. Acad. Imp. Sci. St. Petersb., Vol. III., p. 55, Nov. 16th, 



1837 : South Australia. 



Phalacrocorax leucogaster Gould, Synops. Birds Austr., pt. iv., App., p. 7, April 1st, 1838 : 



" New South Wales " = Tasmania. 



Not Hydrocorax leucogaster Vieillot as above, p. 90, 1817. 



Hypoleucus gouldi Salvadori, Ann. Mus. Civ. Gen., Vol. XVIII., p. 404, 1882. New name for 



P. leucogaster Gould. 



Carbo gouldi tunneyi Mathews, Austral Av. Rec., Vol. I., pt. 4, p. 88, Sept. 18th, 1912 : 



Peak Islands, South-west Australia. 



DISTRIBUTION. Extra-tropical Australia and Tasmania 



