ON THE EXTERNAL NAEES OP THE COfiMOEANT. 



207 



Note on the External Nares o£ tlie Cormorant. 

 By "W. P. Ptceaet, A.L.S. 



[Eead 2nd March, 1899.] 



The following short note, witli two figures, is intended as a 

 supplement to a similar contribution to the pages of this Journal 

 made by Prof. J. C. Ewart *. 



In that communication Prof. Ewart described the external 

 nostril as a " mere slit situated at tbe end of a shallow superficial 

 groove, which runs backwards along the beak parallel with its 

 lower edge, and lying between its lower and middle third." 

 And concerning it he wrote : " "When a bristle is introduced into the 

 slit, it never succeeds in forcing a passage into the nasal cavity. 

 If the skin which forms the outer boundary of the slit is carefully 



Fig. 1. 



Left side view of the head of a Cormorant {Fhalacrocorax carbo) in which the 

 rhamphotheca has been displaced to show the horny plug which has 

 been withdrawn from the aperture of the external nares. — b, bristle ; g, 

 gnathotheca ; g', posterior maxillary portion of the gnathotheca ; n.a., 

 external narial aperture. 



reflexed, a groove is exposed which runs from the external slit-like 

 nostril to a narrow canal lined apparently by modified mucous 

 membrane it is possible to pass through this canal, 



* Vol. XV. 1881, p. 455. 



