CORMORANTS 



(Family Phalacrocoracidce) 



Double-Crested Cormorant 



( Phalacrocorax dilophus) 



Called also : SHAG 



Length 30 to 32 inches. 



Male and Female Head, neck, lower back, and under parts glossy, 

 iridescent black, with greenish reflections; back and wings 

 light grayish brown, each feather edged with black. A tuft 

 of long, thin black feathers either side of the head, extending 

 from above the eyes to the nape of neck. Birds of the 

 interior show some white feathers among the black ones, 

 while Pacific coast specimens, it is said by Chamberlain, 

 wear wholly white wedding plumes. Wedge-shaped black 

 tail, six inches long, is composed of twelve stiff feathers. 

 Bill longer than head, and hooked at end. Naked space 

 around the eye; base of bill and under throat orange. Legs 

 and feet black; all four toes connected by webs. Winter 

 birds lack the plumes on sides of head, and show more 

 brownish tints in plumage. 



Range North America, nesting from the Great Lakes, Minne- 

 sota, Dakota, and Nova Scotia northward ; wintering in our 

 southern States south of Illinois and Virginia. 



Season Chiefly a spring and autumn migrant, except where 

 noted above. 



Which of the cormorants it was that the Greeks called phala- 

 crocorax, or bald raven, and is responsible for the unpronounce- 

 able name borne by the family to this day, is not now certain ; but 

 of the thirty species named by scientists, we are at least sure it 

 was not the double-crested cormorant which is peculiar to 

 America. Some of the Latin peoples, thinking the bird sug- 

 gests by its plumage and its voracious appetite a marine crow 

 (corvus marinus), have given it various titles from which the 



77 



