BIRDS OF TASMANIA. 197 



but gradually raised to a level with the tail; the flight then 

 assumes a steady course, often in a broad semicircle, and is 

 maintained by slow and regular flappings. If unmolested, it may 

 be observed stalking knee-deep in the water in search of food, with 

 its neck inclined forward, raising its foot high at every step as if 

 deliberately measuring the ground." 



ORDER— STEGANOPODES : PELICANS. 



FAMILY-PHALACROCORACID/E (4 species). 



BLACK COKMOEANT 

 (Phalacrocorax carbo, Linn.) 



Male (breeding -plumage). — General colour dark, glossy 

 purplish-black; crown and greater part of the neck covered with 

 long, narrow white feathers ; distinct crest of black feathers on 

 nape; tail black; a large patch of white feathers on each flank; 

 bill greyish-brown; legs and feet blackish. Dimensions in mm. : — 

 Length, 906; bill, 65; wing, 340; tail, 178; tarsus, 60. 



Female [breeding -plumage). — Similar to male. 



Male and Fe-male {non-breeding plu-mage). — No white feathers 

 on head and neck; white patches on the flanks also absent. 



Im-mature. — Upper surface similar to adult, but some brownish- 

 feathers mixed with it ; under surface mottled with broad brownish- 

 black ends to the feathers. 



Young. — Upper surface dull brown, margined with black and 

 faintly glossed ; centre of under parts white ; sides, flanks, and 

 under tail coverts dark brownish-black. 



Nestling. — Covered with thick blackish down. 



Nest. — Placed in a rookery and generally roughly constructed 

 of twigs, leaves, and aquatic herbage. The situation of a rookery 

 varies from the tops of stunted bushes or low trees over water to 

 ledges of rock on some sea-girt island. When the nest is situated 

 in this last position it is constructed of seaweed, and is some 4 or 

 more inches thick. There are several rookeries on various islets 

 in Bass Strait. 



Eggs. — Clutch three to four; somewhat elliptical in shape, 

 with the shell coarse ; no gloss on surface ; greenish-white in 

 colour; the surface is more or less coated with lime, but laid on 

 more evenly than on the eggs of the White-breasted species. 

 Dimensions in mm. of a clutch:— (1) 67 x 39, (2) 69 x 37, (3) 

 58 X 39. 



Breeding Season. — June to November. 



Geographical Distribution. — Tasmania, Australia in general, 

 New Zealand, Chatham Islands, the Austro-Malayan region, parts 

 of Asia, Africa, Europe, South Greenland, the Faroes, Iceland, 

 and the Atlantic coast of North America. 



