470 GRACULUS CAKBO 



these birds, off Grindstone Island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the last week in June. 

 The nests were placed on rocky cliffs, a hundred feet from the water, and contained not on- 

 ly fresh eggs but also newly hatched young, the latter being naked but black, and as shiny 

 as if polished with boot blacking. The adults were extremely shy, instantly leaving the 

 immediate vicinity when I ascended the rock. 



GEACULUS CAEBO. 



Common Cormorant. 



Graculus carbo GY., Gen. Birds, 1845. 



DESCRIPTION. 



SP. CH. Form, robust. Size, large. COLOR. Adult. Black throughout, glossed with green, becoming ashy-brown 

 on center of feathers of body above, tinged with bronze. Broad line around gular sac, filamentous feathers distributed 

 over head and neck, and patch on flanks, white. Iris, green, naked space about head, greenish-brown, gular sac, orange, 

 and feet, black. Young. Similar, but lack the white filamentous feathers and are paler. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



Known by the large size and white markings. Distributed, in summer, from Gulf of St. Lawrence, northward, win- 

 tering along the coast as far south as New Jersey. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Average measurements of specimens from North America. Length, 38'50; stretch, 61-00; wing, I4'50, tail. 6'50;bill, 

 3'25; tarsus, 2'25. Longest specimen, 40'00; greatest extent of wing, 62 - 00, longest wing, 15 - 00; tail, 7'00: bill, 3'50-. tarsus, 

 2-50 Shortest specimen, 37'00; smallest extent of wing, 6'J'OO; shortest wing, 14'00; tail, 6'00; bill, 3 00; tarsus, 2'00. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 



' Nests, placed on rocky cliffs, composed of sticks, sea-weeds, etc. Fyys, three or four in number, oval in form, and 

 bluish-green in color, covered with a white calcareous deposit. Dimensions from l'65x 2'60 to 1'75 x2'65_ 



HABITS. 



I have never met with the Common Cormorant living, and in spite of the name, con- 

 sider it much rarer than the preceding. I have often met with the Black Cormorants along 

 our coast during migrations but never saw a specimen of the larger species among them. 

 The Common Cormorants breed on the coast of Labrador and according to fishermen and 

 others whom I have questioned concerning these birds, who were familiar with them, they 

 do not differ much in habit from the Black when it is found in the North. 



FAMILY IV. PLOTID.E. THE DARTERS. 



Bill, longer than head, straight, slender, and pointed at tip. Gular sac, very small. 

 Sternum, longer than wide. Coracoids, equal in length to sternum. 



The oesophagus is straight and wide. Proventriculus glands, arranged in a globular 

 sac on lower side of oesophagus. Stomach, quite muscular. Coeca, very small. Sternum, 

 well arched, with the central posterior margin indented and having a wide, deep scallop 

 on either side. Keel, projecting forward very slightly and occupies two thirds the length 

 of the sternum. Tail, long and rounded. Head, small, with neck long. 



GENUS I. PLOTCS. THE ANHINGAS. 



(!KN. CH. Similar to those given under family heading. Members of this genus are remarkable on account of the 

 long tail, the central feathers of which are corrugated. Sexes, not similar. There is but one species within our limits. 



PLOTUS ANHINGA. 



Snake Bird. 

 Plotus anhinga LINN., Syst. Nat., I; 1766, 580. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Si>. Cn. Form, slender. Size, large. COLOR. Adult male. Black throughout, glossed with greenish and violet, be- 

 coming brownish on wings and tail. Upper back, scapularies, and wing coverts, streaked and spotted with ashy-white, 

 and the greater wing coverts are edged with it. Tail, tipped with ashy-yellow, and head is provided with long, filamen- 

 tous feathers of ashy-white. Hill, dusky-yellow, feet, brownish-orange, iris, red. Adult female. Similar to male but the 

 head, neck, and breast, are ashy-yellow which becomes brownish above. Young. Similar to adult female but luck the 



