MORGAN — Some Observations on Cormorants. 201 



Some Observations on the Nesting and the Young 

 of Cormorants. 



By A. M. Morgan, M.B., Ch.B. 



Having heard that the Great Black Cormorant {Phala- 

 crocora.r carlo noraehollandiae) was nesting on Mundoo Island, 

 my wife, son, and self made a trip to examine into the matter. 



On November 24th, 1917, Mr. F. H. Downer kindly 

 motored us to Goolwa, where a motor boat was waiting to 

 convey us to Bam Island, where the shooting hut of Di\ Ben- 

 son and Messrs. Cullen and Marshall had been placed at our 

 disposal for the night. 



After breakfast at 6 a.m. we went in the motor boat as 

 far as it could get, and thence in the dinghy to the shaggery 

 On the way several of the bark nests of the Moorhen 

 (Gall inula iencbrosa) were seen placed in the butts of large 

 tea trees standing in the water, the contents were in all stages 

 from fresh eggs to newly hatched young. One nest, which 

 our boatman told us had been robbed three weeks before again 

 contained seven eggs of a very light colour. We also found 

 several nests of the Little Grass Bird containing eggs in the 

 overhanging branches. On rounding a bend we came sud- 

 denly upon the nesting shags. The nests were all built of 

 tea tree twigs, apparently broken off by the birds themselves, 

 for in the new nests some of the twigs still had green leaves 

 upon them. Only two species were nesting, the. little black 

 (Mcsocarbo ater), and the little pied {Microcarbo melanoleucus); 

 there were no Big Black Shags present at all, and although 

 there was a number of orange-faced birds sitting about in the 

 trees none of them was nesting. The two nesting species 

 were more or less mingled, but there was a tendency for each 

 to nest in small groups by themselves, though occasionally 

 one or the other species had a nest in an alien group. The 

 contents of the nests varied from incomplete clutches of fresh 

 eggs to young birds able to fly. The young, when little more 

 than half grown, disgorged the contents of their stomachs, 

 flopped into the water and dived out of sight directly the nests 

 were approached. It was a puzzle to us how they regained 

 their nests, some of which were 10 or 12 feet from the water, 

 until we saw one climbing up the branches using beak, claws, 

 and wings. 



The young of both species are quite black, and have the 

 face and forehead bare until nearlv full grown. It is not until 



