TOWN SENDS CORMORANT. 131 



Tail of moderate length, very narrow, much rounded or cuneate, of 

 twelve narrow strong-shafted feathers. 



Bill yellow, with the ridge brown ; gular sac and bare skin about 

 the eyes orange. The upper part of the head and hind neck are dusky, 

 tinged with green, the hind part of the back greenish-black ; the rest 

 of the upper parts brownish-grey, each feather margined with black. 

 The quills are also brownish-grey, edged with black, the outer pri- 

 maries and the tail-feathers black. The sides of the head, the fore part of 

 the neck, and the breast light yellowish-brown, the middle of the neck 

 in front darker, the sides, abdomen, and tibial feathers, shaded into 

 brownish-black, tinged with green. On the sides of the neck and on 

 the hind part of the sides of the body are a few scattered white pili- 

 form feathers with a terminal pencil of filaments. 



Length to end of tail 35 inches ; bill along the ridge 2^ ; along the 

 edge of lower mandible 3A ; wing from flexure 121 ; tail dj^s ; tarsus 2^ ; 

 first toe 1, its claw j''^ ; second toe l^g, its claw j% ; hind toe 2i%, its 

 claw j^ ; fourth toe 3^, its claw i%. 



Another individual, apparently a bird in its first plvunage, has the 

 head and upper part of the fore neck darker, the middle of the breast 

 lighter, the feathers on the back margined with greyish-brown and an 

 inner band of dark brown. Its bill is longer, but more slender, the 

 unguis less curved, the feathers not entirely obliterated from the space 

 before the eye, and extending farther on the gular sac. It is obvious- 

 ly however of the same species. 



