728 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — STEGANOPOBES. 



as usual in such cases ; the sac seems to be more extensively denuded. Resident on the 

 Floridan and Gulf coast, breeding by thousands on the mangrove bushes; in summer, ranging 

 up tlie Mississippi valley to Ohio, and along the coast to North Carolina. 

 753a. P. d. albocilia'tus. (Ridgw. MS.) Small : like floridanus, but with white nuptial crests as 

 in cincinnatus. Pacific coast, breed from the Parallone Islands to Cape St. Lucas. 



754. P. mexlca'nus. Mexican Cormorant. Resembling the last ; lustre more intense, rather 

 violet-purplish than green ; long filamentous white feathers on head and neck (but no definite 

 black lateral crests f) ; sac orange, white-edged with feathers. Small : length about 24.00 ; 

 extent 40.00; wing about 10.00; tail 6.00-6.50, thus relatively long; tarsus under 2.00; 

 gape of bill under 3.00. The sac is not strongly convex in outline behind, the feathers 

 passing across in a straight or even convex line. Central America and West Indies ; Texas ; 

 up the Mississippi to Illinois and Kansas. 



755. P. penicilla'tus. (Lat. penicillatus, pencilled, brushy.) Tufted Cormorant. Brandt's 

 Cormorant. Deep lustrous green, changing to violet or steel-blue on the neck; the back 

 proper like the under parts, but the scapulars and wing-coverts showing narrow dark edgings 

 of the individual feathers (much less conspicuous than in any of the foregoing species ; nothing 

 of the sort is seen in any of the following ones). Sac dark blue, surrounded by a gorget of 

 fawn-colored or mouse-brown plumage ; heart-shaped behind, owing to a narrow pointed forward 

 extension of the feathers on the middle line, as in P. carho, but largely nalved, the feathers ex- 

 tending on it little if any in advance of those on the lower mandible. White filamentous plumes, 

 2 inches or more long, straight and stiffish, spring in a series down each side of the neck ; 

 a few others are irregularly scattered over tlie back of the neck ; many others, still longer, 

 grow on the upper part of the back. No black crests, nor white flank-patch, observed. 

 Wing nearly 12.00; tail scarcely or not 6.00, thus relatively very short ; bill along culmen 

 2.75 ; tarsus 2.50. Does not particularly resemble any other species here described. Young: 

 Blackish-brown, rustier below, the belly grayish ; scapulars and wing-coverts witli edges 

 of the feathers paler than the centres; gorget fawn-colored, as in the adult (P. tou-nsendii! 

 Aud.). Pacific Coast, U. S., common. 



756. P. perspicilla'tus. (Lat. perspicillatus, conspicuous, spectacular.) Pallas' Cormorant. 

 Deep lustrous green, above and below, with blue gloss on the neck, and rich purplish on the 

 scapulars and wing-coverts, the dorsal feathers not sharp-edged nor bordered, as in all the 

 foregoing. Shafts of tail-feathers (said to be) white ; if this holds, it is a unique character 

 among our species. Adult with coronal and occipital crests (not lateral paired crests) ; a 

 white flank-patch in the breeding season; face and neck with long sparse straw- yellow 

 plumes; sac orange, heart-shaped; bill blackish. Large; length 36.00; wing 13.00; ta'il 7.00? 

 9.00? tarsus 3.00; bill (along gape?) 4.00, very stout, two-thirds of an inch deep at base. 

 N. Pacific Coast. I have not seen tliis species, which seems to be well marked. There are 

 no knoAvn specimens in this country, and none of the ornithologists who have lately visited 

 Alaskan shores have found the bird. 



757. P. bicrista'tus. (Lat. bicristatus, twice-crested. Figs. 502, 503, 504, 505.) Red-faced 

 Cormorant. Frontal feathers not reaching base of the culmen, the Ijill being entirely sur- 

 rounded by naked red sljin which also encircles the eyes, somewhat carunculate, forming a kind 

 of wattle on each side of the chin ; base of under mandible blue ; feet black, blotched with 

 yellow. Crowm with a median bronzy black crest, and nape with another, in the same line. 

 In the specimens examined, a large white flank-patch, but few if any white plumes on neck. 

 Plumage richly iridescent, mostly green, but violet and steel-blue on the neck, purplish, violet, 

 and bronzy on the back and wings, the feathers there without definite dark edgings. Length 

 33.00 ; extent 48.00 ; wing 12.00 ; tarsus 2.97 ; gape of bill 3.00. Alaska, both on the coast 

 and islands ; swarming on the Seal Islands of Behring's Sea, where resident. Nests on the 

 rocky cliffs; habits iu all respects those of other species. Eggs as usual 3-4, 2.50 X 1.50. 



