534 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 



Family GRACULID^. The Cormorants. 



Bill rather moderate, culmen concave, tip much hooked and acute ; nostrils not 

 perceptible ; wings moderate and pointed; tail rather short and rounded; tarsi 

 short; toes long and all joined by full webs; gular sac capable of considerable 

 expansion. 



GRACULUS, Linn/Eus. 



Gracuhis, Linn.eus, Syst. Nat. (1735). (Type Pdecama carbo, L.) 

 Bill rather slender, of moderate length, with the culmen concave, hooked at the 

 tip, the sides compressed and grooved; nostrils not visible in the adult; wings mod- 

 erately long and pointed, second and third primaries longest ; tail moderate and 

 graduated at the end; tarsi short and much compressed; toes long and full-webbed; 

 a leathery pouch at the base of the lower mandible, which can be much distended. 



These birds exist abundantly in all parts of the globe. They are mostly found 

 on the seacoast, breeding on rocky ledges difficult of access, and also on trees. 

 They are exceedingly expert in catching fish ; being very active in the water, and 

 capable of remaining under its surface for a great length of time. 



GRACULUS CARBO.— Gray. 



The Common Cormorant. 



Phalacrocornx carbo, Nuttall. Man., II. (1834) 479. Aud. Orn. Biog., III. 

 (1835) 458. lb., Birds Am., VI. (1843) 412. 

 Gracuhis carbo, Gray. Gen. of Birds (1845). 



Description. 



Bluish-black ; feathers on middle of occiput and hind neck elongated ; gular sac 

 yellow, at the base of which is a broad band of white ; linear feathers on the head 

 and neck white; a patch of white on the sides; third primary longest; tail of four- 

 teen feathers. 



Adult. — Plumage in general black, glossed with greenish-blue ; the feathers of the 

 upper part and sides of the back and wing coverts are dark-ash, with bronzed reflec- 

 tions, and bordered with greenish-black ; primaries and tail feathers grayish-black, 

 secondaries grayish-brown ; bare space around the eye dull-olive, under the eye red ; 

 the gular sac yellow, encircling the lower part of which is a broad band of white ; 

 numerous linear filamentous white feathers are distributed over the head and neck; 

 on tne side, over the thigh, is a patch of elongated linear white feathers; upper man- 

 dible grayish-black, with the edges yellowish-white, lower dusky yellowish-white at 

 the base; iris bluish-green; eyelids with dusky margins; tarsi, feet, and claws 

 grayish-black. 



The bill is strong and powerful, the ridge is smooth, but the sides of both mandi- 

 bles are rugose. 



Length, thirty-seven inches; wing, fourteen ; bill, three and fifty one-hundredths; 

 tail, six and fifty one-hundredths inches. 



