146 NATURAL HISTORY 



[Birds. 



the head, which is brown ; the neck much more faintly mark- 

 ed with the white ring ; the coverts dusky. 



GENUS XXXIV. THE PELECAN. 



Gen. Char. Bill long and straight, the end either hooked or sloping ; nostrils 

 either totally wanting or small, and placed in a furrow that runs along the sides 

 of the bill ; faced naked ; gullet naked, and capable of great distension ; toes, 

 all four webbed. 



Species 1. The Cormorant or Corvorant. 



The Cormorant, Wil. Orn. 329. Raii Syn. At). 122. Pelecanus Carbo, Lin. 

 Sys. 216. Brit. Zool. 476. Ore. Great Scarf. 



THIS bird is very frequent both in salt and fresh water; 

 continues with us the whole year, living on fish, of which it 

 destroys vast numbers. 



The whole bird is black, except the throat and a tuft of 

 feathers on the thighs ; the bill is large, dusky, and hooked ; 

 the throat capable of opening very wide, and it can swallow a 

 very large fish ; the tail consists of fourteen feathers, which is 

 a character distinguishing it from the next ; the belly in some 

 is a dusky white, in others darker. 



The corvorant seems to have but little other concern than 

 how to eat enough ; it is indeed surprising what quantities 

 of fish it will gorge itself with, and, when it has filled itself to 



