466 COMMON CORMORANT. 



32 ; extent of wings 62 ; wing from flexure 14 ; tail 6i ; bill along the 

 ridge 3i%, along the edge of lower mandible 4^^? ; tarsus 'i^ ; outer toe 

 3j^^, its claw fi- Weight 7^ lb. 



Female in July. Plate CCLXVI. Fig. 2. 



The Female when old is similar to the male. In the state here re- 

 presented, the plumage in general is similar, but the white feathers of 

 the head and thighs are wanting. The bill, eyes and feet are coloured as 

 in the male, as are the bare parts about the base of the bill, only the 

 part under the eye which is bright red in the male, is bright yellow in 

 the female, 



Young Birds unfledged. Plate CCLXVI. Fig. 3, 4. 



The inside of the mouth and the gular sac flesh-coloured ; the bill 

 dusky, at the base flesh-coloured ; the eyes bluish grey. The general co- 

 lour of their skin is dull Hvid ; the feet purplish-dusky, the webs yellow- 

 ish-brown. 



The following is a description of the smaller individual represented in 

 the plate, and which was about two weeks old. The length is twelve 

 inches and a half ; the colour dull Uvid, the abdomen and breast lighter, 

 the forehead, gular sac, and bases of the mandibles, flesh-colour tinged 

 with yellow, as is the mouth. The head and upper part of the neck are 

 bare, as well as the lower surface of the wings. Over the rest of the body 

 are small down tufts rising in regular series, excepting along an impressed 

 line extending from the anterior part of the thorax to the anus. The 

 apertures of the ears are round, extremely small, being only half a twelfth 

 in diameter ; the eyes very small, the iris grey. The aperture of the 

 posterior nares is linear-lanceolate, smooth on the edges, half an inch long. 

 A probe introduced into it passes readily out by the nostril, which is basal, 

 linear, small, two-twelfths long, placed at the commencement of the long 

 groove which separates the sides from the ridge of the mandible, and co- 

 vered above by the skin, so as to be not readily observed, although it is 

 easily dilatable. Each internal nostril is obhque, much wider below, and 

 has on its inner side a transverse soft ridge, which divides it into two ca- 

 vities, the posterior deep and funnel-shaped, passing backwards and up- 

 wards, the anterior becoming narrower towards the external aperture. 

 The tongue is extremely small, four-twelfths long, elliptical, with a cen- 



