76 COMMON CORMORANT SHAG. 



ORDER STEQANOPODES. 



Family PHALACROCORACID^. 

 COMMON CORMORANT (Phalacrocorax carlo). 



Eesident. Common throughout our coasts where suitable. 



Haunts. Rocky ledges of the cliffs and the sea and some 

 inland stations. 



Plumage. Head and neck black, with white filamentary 

 plumes, the feathers of the occiput becoming crest-like in 

 spring. Throat white ; gular pouch yellow. Mantle black, 

 glossed with cupreous; rest of plumage black. Conspicuous 

 white patch on the thighs in the breeding season. Bill dark 

 horn-colour. Legs black. Length 36 in. Female similar. 

 Nestlings nude, and bluish black. Young bird, dark brown 

 above and dirty white below, mottled with pale brown. 



Language. A harsh guttural cry. Usually very silent. 



Habits. On land it progresses awkwardly, owing to the 

 backward position of the legs. It flies rapidly, with neck out- 

 stretched like a Duck's. It is an expert swimmer and diver, 

 going down to great depths with incredible rapidity after its 

 finny prey. Very sociable, always nesting in communities. 

 It loves to sit on a rocky ledge, with head erect and half-opened 

 wings, occasionally flapping them The Cormorant's " rookery " 

 is a most evil abode, reeking and stinking with its excrement 

 and regurgitated fragments of fish. 



food. Fish exclusively. 



Nest. April or May. One brood. 



Site. On some rocky ledge overlooking the sea, and usually 

 rather inaccessible. 



Materials. Sticks and seaweed. 



Eggs. Three to five. Pale greenish blue underground, thickly 

 encrusted with a white chalky substance. In shape long and 

 narrow, and rather small for the bird's size. 



SHAG (Phalacrocorax graculus). 



Resident. More local than the last, but met with abundantly 

 in Scotland, Isle of Man, Fame Islands, Channel Islands, and 

 Ireland. 



Haunts. Rocky ledges of the sea-coast. More essentially a 

 marine species than the last. 



Observation. Distinguish from Cormorant by greener 

 plumage and absence of white throat and thigh patch. 



Plumage. Bare skin of face yellow. General plumage dark 



