OF THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 67 



Although the Cormorants are generally birds of the sea-coast, 

 yet when not specially engaged at home, they make periodical 

 excursions to the lakes, where no doubt they find the change of 

 food and scenery very agreeable ; in spring and fall they are 

 occasionally seen on Hamilton Bay, following their usual avoca- 

 tion of fishing. Not long since I looked at one through a 

 powerful glass as he sat on the buoy out off the wharves, and 

 could not but admire the graceful motions of his long, lithe neck, 

 as he preened his plumage in conscious safety ; perhaps at that 

 distance the inspection was more pleasant than it might have 

 been closer by, as these birds, though apparently cleanly, carry 

 with them a most unsavory odor. 



29. PHALACROCORAX DILOPHUS (Sw. & Rich.). 120. 



Double-crested Cormorant, 



Tail of twelve feathers ; gular sac convex or nearly straight-edged behind. 

 Glossy greenish-black ; feathers of the back and wings coppery. gray, black- 

 shafted, black-edged ; adult with curly black lateral crests, and in the breed- 

 ing season other filamentous white ones over the eyes and along the sides of 

 the neck ; white flank-patch, not observed in the specimens examined, but 

 probably occurring; gular sac and lores orange. Eyes green. Length, 30-33 

 inches ; wing, 12 or more ; tail, 6 or more ; bill along gape, 3J ; tarsus a little 

 over 2. Young, plain dark-brown, paler or grayish (even white on the breast) 

 below, without head plumes. 



Hab. Eastern coast of North America, breeding from the Bay of Fundy 

 northward ; southward in the interior to the Great Lakes and Wisconsin. 



Eggs, two to three, bluish green. 



This, like the preceding species, occasionally visits the inland 

 lakes, and is distinguished by its smaller size and richer plumage. 

 The specimen in my collection I shot off Huckleberry Point, as 

 it rose from a partially submerged stump, which it had used for a 

 short time as a fishing station. All the Cormorants have the 

 reputation of being voracious feeders, and they certainly have a 

 very nimble way of catching and swallowing their prey, yet it is 

 not likely that they consume more than other birds of similar 

 size. 



