64 A MANUAL OF THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



Adult male. Head, hind-neck, entire back, outer sides of the thighs and under 

 wing-coverts glossy blue-black with white plumes intermixed on the sides of the 

 nape, upper hind -neck, and sides of the rump* ; scapulars and wings oil -green with 

 very narrow black margins to the feathers ; quills uniform dark brown ; tail greenish- 

 black ; sides of the face, throat, fore-neck and entire under-surface of the body 

 pure white. Bill dark horn, base and bare space purple ; iris green ; feet black. 

 Total length 700 mm. ; culmen 54, wing 273, tail 107, tarsus 60. 



Adult female. Similar to the adult male but slightly smaller. Culmen 50 mm., 

 wing 270, tail 107, tarsus 54. 



Immature. Distinguished chiefly by the brown on the upper-surface, sides of 

 the body, and the outer thighs ; gular pouch grey. 



Young. Similar to the above but darker brown, and the head and hind -neck 

 narrowly streaked with white. 



Nest. Placed on a reef or on rocks and composed of seaweed, saltbush, etc. ; 

 outside dimensions 18 by 4 inches, egg cavity about 9 inches by 2. 



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

 axis 57 to 60 mm., diameter 36 to 38. 



Breeding-sea&m. November, December and January. 



Distribution and forms. Apparently confined to Southern Australia, outside 

 the tropics. No subspecies are admitted at present as only unstable characters 

 have been used for separating forms in this genus, and long series are not at hand ; 

 while Carter states it may not occur west of Albany, so that it has a very limited 

 range. 



Genus MESOCARBO. 



Mesocarbo Mathews and Iredale, Ibis, 1913, p. 415, July 1st. Type (by original designation) : 

 Carbo sttlcirostris Brandt C. ater Lesson. 



Small Phalacrocoracine birds with comparatively short, slender bills, rather 

 short necks, long wings, and medium tail composed of twelve feathers. 



The bill is more delicately formed than in the preceding genus, but on exactly 

 the same pattern ; the culmen engraved with parallel shallow grooves and ridges. 



The tail is about three times the length of the culmen or metatarsus, which 

 are subequal, and more than half the wing length. 



When we separated this form (loc. cit.) we wrote : " The species of Mesocarbo 

 differ from those of Hypoleucus in their shorter and more slender bills, their longer 

 tails and more slender build ; from those of Microcarbo in their longer and pro- 

 portionately more slender bills as well as their proportionately shorter tails, 

 apparently there is no crest in the breeding-season. 



48. Mesocarbo ater. LITTLE BLACK CORMORANT. 



Gould, Vol. VII., pi. 67 (pt. xxxv.), Dec. 1st, 1848. Mathews, Vol. IV., pt. 2, pi. 220, Feb. 

 17th, 1915. 



Carbo ater Lesson, Traited'Orn., 8 e livr.,p. 604. June llth, 1831 : Shark Bay, West Australia. 



Carlo sulcirostris Brandt, Bull. Sci. Acad. Imp. Sci. St. Petersb., Vol. III., p. 56, 1837 : New 



South Wales. 



Microcarbo stictcceplialus Bonaparte, Consp. Gen. Av., Vol. II., p. 178, 1856 : New South 



Wales. 



Carbo squamatus Pelzeln, Ibis, 1873, p. 124, Jan. 1st. Nomen mtdnm. 



Mesocarbo ater territori Mathews, Birds Austr., Vol. IV., pt. 2, p. 176, Feb. 17th, 1915 : 



Northern Territory. 



DISTRIBUTION. Australia generally and Tasmania. 



Adult male. Upper-back, sides of breast, scapulars and wings hoary -grey, 

 with black margins and black shaft-lines to the feathers, all of which are very glossy ; 



