I'UAIiACUOCuUACiD.K TIIIO COHMOUANTS — I'HALACUOCOltA.V. 153 



iiihiiid waters. It lu-Hts on the stcpp lid^t'S ami cliffH of tlm isluinls, and occiiHionally 

 on the iiiiiin hIioh'h. TIhi nests aro coniiioscd entirely of sticks, neatly i)iled np in a 

 conical form, about one foot liij,''', with a depression in the middle. The ef,'>,'s are 

 siiiil to 1m' three or four in number, and to have an average nieasurement of 'J.'Jii inches 

 in leuKtli by 1.40 in breadth. They are of a greenish-white cohir, with more or less 

 of caliareous incrustations. The birds lay from the first of May to July ; and if they 

 arc robbed they will lay several tinu's. The eggs have a very strong and disagreealdo 

 flavor, and they cannot be made to coagulate by boiling ; yet, as Dr. Coojier states, 

 there are persons who can eat them. 



Like the common IMack Cormorant, this bird lives entirely on tish, which it catches 

 iiy pursuing them uiuler the water, diving only from the surface, and never when fly- 

 ing. Its power of swimming is very gntat, and it can remain under the water for a 

 Idiig time, so that when only wounded its pursuit in a boat is useless. Individuals 

 of tliis species occasionally seem to i)ref»!r inland waters during the summer, while 

 others breed on the islands at sea and along the large rivers. They may often bo 

 seen sitting on snags or on rocks ; but are so shy that they cannot be approached in a 

 lioat, although in Hying they often pass very near the hunter, and thus afford an 

 oMportunity for a shot. In winter they associate in small numbers with the more 

 marine species. This seems to be an altogether silent species. In flying it proceeds 

 liy constant and laborious flai)pings, and moves with great rajjidity. Occasionally it 

 sails for a short distance. 



Mr. Ilenshaw states that it nests on the Farallon Islands and upon the Santa 

 l>arl)ara (Jrouj); and that it is common along the coa.st and on the interior waters. 

 Mr. Hepburn also states that it breeds along the Sacramento River, where in the 

 silling he found these birds already having their peculiar crests. 



Mr. J. A. Allen mentions meeting with this species in considerable numliers in 

 the valley of Great Salt Lake, where it Ix'ars the singular name of IJlack lirant. It 

 also occurs in small numbers, in the spring and fall, in the vicinity of Lake Kosko- 

 nong, in Southern Wisconsin, where a few mature sjiecimens have l)een ob^^pined by 

 Trofessor Kundien, who informs me that this has of late years been found to Iw 

 liy no means an uncommon bird in that region. It is met with there only in the 

 sjiiiiig, collecting, about sunset at that time of the year, in a grove of dead trees, at 

 tlie mouth of Koskonong Creek, as well as at other points near the lake, where, at the 

 present time, the larger trees have been killed by the unusual prevalence of high 

 water. When Mr. Kumlien first came to that region these trees were living, and 

 these birds either did not frequent that locality in such large numbers as now, or 

 tiieir presence was not noticed. 



Major Wedderburn mentions the taking of two examples of this species on 

 Picrnmda : one was shot in October, 1847 ; the other in Febniary, 1848. 



This is a common bird in the spring and fall in the neighborhood of Calais and in 

 all parts of the Bay of Fundy ; it also visits the sea-coast of the United States as 

 iar south as Maryland, and is believed once to have been resident on the northern 

 shores of Massachusetts, but .long since to have been driven away. 



Audubon states that he saw it breeding on the Seal Islands, off the Bay of Fundy, 

 and that it was also found by his son nesting on a low flat islaiul a few miles from 

 the entrance of the harbor of Wapitaguan, where some of the nests contained eggs, 

 th(> others young of all sizes. None of the latter attempted to giiin the water, but 

 they all hid themselves in the fissures of the rocks. The nests were formed of a few 

 sticks, together mth seaweeds, moss, and clods of earth. These were piled in a solid 

 mass three feet high, and having a diameter of from fifteen to eighteen inches at the 



vor,. ir. — 20 



