160 



TOTIPALMATE SWIMMERS — STEGANOPODES. 



Phalacrocorax pelagicus. 



a. Pelagicus. THE ALEUTIAN VIOLET-GREEN CORMOKANT. 



Phalacrocorax pelagicus, Pall. Zoog. Rosso-As. II. 1826, 303, pi. 76. 



Gmculiis Bairdii, Dall, Avifauna Aleutian Islands from Unalashka westward, 1874, p. 6 (not of 

 Cooper). 



h. Robustus. THE ALASKAN VIOLET-GREEN CORMORANT. 



Graculus violaceufi (part), Lawii. in Baird's B. N. Am. 1858, 881. — Baiud, Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, 



no. 627. — CouEs, Key, 1872, 305 ; Check List, 1873, no. 535. 

 Phalacrocorax violaccus, Ridgw. Nom. N. Am. B. 1881, no.646. — CouES, 2d Check List, 1882, no. 758. 

 Phalacrocorax pc/agicus robustus, Ridgw. MS. 



c. Resplendens. THE VIOLET-GREEN CORMORANT; BAIRD'S CORMORANT. 



Phalaa-ocorax resplendens, AuD. Oru. Biog. V. 1830, 148 ; Synop. 1839, 304 ; B. Am. VI. 1843, 430, 



pi. 419. 

 Phalacrocorax violaccus resplendens, Ridgw. Nom. N. Am. B. 1881, no646rt. — Coues, 2d Check 



List, 1882, no. 759. 

 Graculus Bairdii, "Gruber, MSS." Cooper, Pr. Ac. Nat. Sci. Philad. Jan. 1865, 5 (Farallon 



Islands, coast of California). 

 Graculus violaccus, var. Bairdii, Henshaw, Orn. Wheeler's Exp. 1876, 276 (Santa Cruz I., Cal. ; June). 

 White-patch Cormorant, Cooper, 1. c. 



Hab. Pacific coast of North America, from Alaska to California. True pelagicus restricted to 

 the Aleutian Islands, Kanitschatka, Kuriles, and (in winter) Japan ; robustus to the coast of Alaska, 

 from Norton Sound to Sitka ; and resplendens to Washington Territory, and southward as far as 

 Cape St. Lucas and Mazatlan. 



Sp. Char. Tail-feathers twelve. Forehead feathered down to the base of the culmen. Adult: 

 Head and neck rich silky metallic violet, the pileum and lower part of the neck more blue ; back, 

 rump, and entire lower parts rich silky metallic bottle-green ; scapulars and wing-coverts similar, 



but tinged with purplish-bronze ; 

 primaries and tail dull black. Li the 

 breeding-season, the neck, lower back, 

 and rumj) adorned with narrow white 

 filamentous feathers, and the flanks 

 covered with a large patch of pure 

 white ; pileum with two erectile flat- 

 tened tufts of broad, rather loose- 

 webbed feathers — one tuft on the 

 forehead, the other on the occiput. 

 Bill dusky ; gular sac and naked 

 lores reddish brown or coral-red ; iris 

 light green ; legs and feet deep black. 

 In luinter, the white filamentous 

 feathers of the neck and rump, and 

 the white flank-patches entirely ab- 

 sent ; the tufts of the head absent, 

 or but slightly developed. Young : 

 Uniform brownish dusky, lighter 

 (nearly brownish gray) on the head, 

 the upper parts darker and glossy, 

 with a faint bottle-green reflection, the scapulars with indistinct dull black borders. Iris brown. 

 Downy young: Uniform dark sooty brown. 



a. Pelagicus: Total length, about 2(i.50-29.50 inches; wing, 9.50-10.60 (average, 10.10); 

 tail, 6.00-(i.75 (6.30) ; culmen, 1.70-2.00 (1.85) ; tarsus, 1.90-2.15 (2.02) ; outer toe, 2.80-3.30 

 (3.05). [Eight specimens.] 



P. pelagicus resplendens, d" ad., in winter. 



