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winter it is tolerably common amongst the islands in the lagoons of Missolonghi, but disappears 

 in April. He does not know if it ever remains to breed there. It winters in the Cyclades, 

 and is common in Macedonia at that season of the year. Colonel Drummond-Hay speaks of it 

 as common during the cold season at Butrinto, and somewhat rare in Cephalonia, but not found 

 at Corfu ; but Lord Lilford states (Ibis, 1860, p. 355), it is " very abundant in winter in Epirus ; 

 appears to have no particular preference for salt water to fresh, as it is often to be found in 

 ditches and flooded meadows far from the sea. I saw this species in Albania in August 1857." 

 It is found in suitable localities in Southern Russia, and nests, Mr. Jacovleff says, in the delta of 

 the Volga, about fifty miles from Astrachan. Mr. Danford met with it in the marshes near the 

 Meander, and in Adalia, in Asia Minor, where it was common ; and Canon Tristram records it 

 from Palestine, where he met with it on the Leontes and other streams flowing into the Medi- 

 terranean. He did not observe it in the Jordan valley, where, however, he adds, it might easily 

 have escaped his notice. In North-east Africa the present species is less numerous than the 

 African Cormorant. Von Heuglin says that during the winter it is tolerably common in the 

 lagoons of Lower Egypt, and lives in communities. He did not observe it on the Nile, but 

 thinks it not improbable that it breeds in the delta. Captain Shelley writes (B. of Egypt, 

 p. 295) as follows : — " The only locality in which I found this bird was the Fayoom, where it 

 was not uncommon on the desert side of the great lake of Birket el Korn, and I shot two speci- 

 mens. It is a far more active bird than the common Cormorant, and much more shy, but very 

 similar in its habits ; for as I paddled among the reeds I frequently saw it sitting upright on the 

 halfsunken bushes, or diving actively in pursuit of fish. It appears to be a sociable species ; for 

 I generally noticed it in pairs or small flocks, possibly family parties; but it never flew in 

 company with other birds." I am also indebted to Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., for the following 

 note : — " The Little Cormorant is probably far rarer than the long-tailed African Cormorant at 

 the Faioom, as I only shot one, a male, on the 1st of June. We at once noticed it as something 

 different, from its entirely black bill and pouch, dark brown eye, and brown head. All the long- 

 tailed African ones which we shot, amounting to fifteen in number, had red or reddish eyes and 

 yellow bills." 



The present species is also found in Algeria, where, according to Loche, it is common, and 

 breeds on Lake Fezzara. Loche states that there are two species in Algeria, one of which he 

 calls Haliceus algeriensis ; but Professor Schlegel, who has compared examples from Algeria, 

 states that they are identical with P. pygmoeus. 



To the eastward the present species has a tolerably wide range. Pallas and Eichwald both 

 record it from the Caspian. In India, Dr. Jerdon writes, it is exceedingly common in every part. 

 I have examined specimens from India, in the British Museum, and cannot find any specific 

 distinction between them and examples from Europe; and Professor Schlegel states that 

 examples from Java and Borneo, where the present species is very common, are similar to the 

 Indian bird. 



I have only seen the present species on one or two occasions (when on the Danube), and have 

 had but scanty opportunities of studying its habits. I am therefore glad to avail myself of the 

 excellent notes communicated by the Baron von Loebenstein to Naumann, and published by him 

 in his ' Naturgeschichte der Vogel Deutschlands,' xi. pp. 128-135. From these I translate the 



