888 Birds of Celebes: Phalacrocoracidae. 



Malay Peninsula (Begbie 5, Kelham 29, Hartert 47); Sumatra (Raffles 4, 17, 44); 

 Java (Horsfield, Salomon Miiller, etc. 3, 9, 31); Borneo (Beccari, etc. 17, 46, 

 53, 55); Philippines — Luzon (Meyer 16), Negros (Layard 76'), Mindoro (Steer e 4.9, 

 Schmacker a 3); Celebes — Manado (Meyer 12, 13, 22], Gorontalo Distr. (Rosenb. 

 18, 20, 25, Riedel 39), Pampanua, S. Peninsula (Weber54); Madagascar (Pollen 15). 



The Indian Darter most closely resembles Plotus novaehollandiae Gould of 

 Australia and New Guinea, which has the lower fore-neck hazel, and a second 

 white stripe bordering the bare skin behind the chin. In the Region of the 

 Caucasus and Western Asia another allied form, P. chantrei Oust., has been 

 described (35). In Africa it is represented by P. levaillanti, and in the warm 

 parts of N. and S. America by P. anhinga., but these species differ more widely. 

 The Darters are easily recognisable by their long, thin necks and straight ser- 

 rated bills, and this creates an appearance which has given rise to the name 

 "Snake-bird" for them. For the rest, they are very like Cormorants. Their 

 powers of diving are very great, and they have the capacity, like the Grebes, 

 of submerging the body, so that they are capable of swimming with the head 

 only above water. A curious character of their jjlumage is the corrugated, or 

 ribbed, character of the outer web of the innermost remex and of the outer 

 web of the middle tail-feathers. 



In Celebes the Indian Darter has as yet been recorded from three localities 

 only, among them Lake Limbotto where it seems to be jjlentiful, for Rosenberg 

 got 14 specimens there, and it is to be expected that it will be found on all 

 the lakes of the island which are suited to its mode of life. It is said to 

 feed entirely upon fish by Legge, who gives an excellent description of its 

 habits (24). 



GENUS PHALACROCORAX Briss. 



In the Cormorants the bill is generally longer than the head, hooked at 

 the tip, not serrated; anterior malar region and upper throat naked; feet com- 

 pletely webbed, the outermost toe much the longest, the claw of the middle one 

 serrated; wings rather short, rounded to fit the body; tail moderately long, the 

 feathers 12 or 14 in number, stiff, and exposed almost to their bases owing 

 to the shortness of the upper tail-coverts; exterior nostrils wanting. Food: fish. 



Range: cosmopolitan. 



\ ^11. PHALACROCORAX MELANOLEUCUS (YieilL). 



Pied Cormorant. 



a. Hydrocorax melanoleucus (1) Vieill., Nouv. Diet. 1817, VIII, 88. 



h. Carbo dimidiatus (1) Less., Tr. d'Orn. 1831, 604 (ex Cuv. MS.); {2} Finscb, Neu Guinea 



1865, 183; {3) Rosenb., Zool. Garten 1881, 167; {4} W. Bias., J. f. O. 1883, 



127, 128. 



