390 BRITISH BIRDS. 



Although birds in captivity are liable to vary in respect 

 to changes of plumage from those in a wild state, yet 

 Mr. Bonhote's bird appears to have undergone its changes 

 normally. 



I subsequently wrote to the " Field " (December 11th), 

 stating that, judging by Mr. Bonhote's description, my 

 white-breasted bird is not a young one, and, if not 

 fully adult, is at least three years old, and belongs to a 

 recurrent form of variation. 



This opinion I still hold, and it is strengthened I think 

 by the fact that there are several examples of similar 

 coloration now in the same locality where I obtained mine. 

 In December, 1907, I saw two or three (or possibly 

 more) very large Cormorants with pure white breasts. 

 One morning, when I had not my gun, one of these fine 

 birds flew so close to me that I distinctly saw its bright 

 green eye ; its under-parts were of the purest white ; 

 and last June I saw several other precisely similar birds. 



It is a curious fact that these large white-breasted 

 birds, so far as I can ascertain, escaped notice until 

 December, 1905, when Mr. C. J. King wrote me that he 

 had just seen a strange bird sitting on the rocks ; it was 

 black above and white below, the colouring being sharply 

 defined, and he would have taken it for a Great Northern 

 Diver but for the fact that it was sitting on a rock. , Since 

 that time they have gradually increased. I should 

 mention that Mr. King has resided in the Scillies for the 

 past twenty years, during which period he has spent 

 much time in observing and photographing the birds 

 of the islands, so he is hardly likely to have escaped seeing 

 such large and very conspicuous birds. 



In the accompanying figure of the under-surface the buff 

 and brown speckles have been accentuated in the process 

 of photographing and show up too strongly. 



