464 COMMON CORMORANT. 



nal and asstival beauty. The entire crest also falls off in autumn. The 

 white markings and the crest are renewed in the wild state about the end 

 of February ; but in birds kept in domestication rarely before May. 

 The young do not exhibit the crest until the second spring, at which 

 period, being yet destitute of white markings on the head and thighs, 

 they might readily be mistaken for a different species, by a person unac- 

 quainted with their habits. 



The singular fact that the young of the three species of Cormorant 

 described in this volume, have open nostrils until they are nearly half- 

 grown, may surprise you as much as it surprised me. Having observed 

 it in many individuals, I preserved one in spirits, and of it you will find 

 a description beneath. 



The Common Cormorant is rarely seen farther south than the extreme 

 limits of Maryland ; but from Cheasapeake Bay eastward, it becomes 

 more plentiful ; and in severe winters, I have seen it exposed for sale in 

 the New York market. They are abundant in winter around the islands 

 of the Bay of Boston, and on the coasts of Massachusetts and Maine, 

 where most of them remain during autumn, winter, and the early part of 

 spring, as well as on the Bay of Fundy and along the shores of Nova 

 Scotia. I am unable to say how far north they go beyond Labrador, to 

 breed, or what may be the limits of their range on the St Lawrence in 

 autumn. I have never seen one on a tree, or on fresh water. The flesh 

 of this species is dark, tough, and fishy, its eggs also do not furnish 

 agreeable food, and it is seldom that either are eaten, even by epicures. 



Pelecanus Carbo, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 216 — Lath. Jnd. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 886. 

 Phai.acrocorax Cahbo, CA. Bonaparte, Synopsis of Birds of the United States, p. 402. 

 Cormorant, Nuttall, Manual, vol. ii. p. 479- 



Adult Male in March. Plate CCLXVL Fig. 1. 



Bill about the length of the head, rather slender, somewhat compress- 

 ed, straight, with the tip curved. Upper mandible with the dorsal line 

 sloping and slightly concave, at the tip decurved, its ridge broad and 

 rounded, and separated from the sides by a narrow groove, the sides erect, 

 irregularly scaly, convex, the edges sharp and straight as far as the unguis, 

 at the base a distinct horny plate, the unguis strong, convex above, in- 

 curved, acute. No external nostrils when full-grown. Lower mandible 

 with the angle long and very narrow towards the end, filled by an exten- 



