24 BIRDS OF THE WORLD 



later workers have shown that this association was 

 justified. 



The best known of these Totipalmate birds are the 

 Cormorants and Gannets. 



The Common Cormorant is a bird which enjoys 

 a very wide distribution over the earth's surface, being 

 common in Europe and Asia, and in America along 

 the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. It is a rather 

 large bird, being about three feet long, of a wonderful 

 dark-green colour, and having emerald-green eyes. 

 The neck is long, the bill heavy a,nd furnished with a 

 very sharp recurved hook, useful in seizing fish. The 

 feathers of this bird are velvety and scale-like in ap- 

 pearance, very thick, and they lie close to the body. 

 Although such an expert swimmer and diver, the Cor- 

 morant is also strong in flight, once well on the wing, 

 and in Florida numbers of them are seen soaring high 

 in the air, or flying in a straight line like that taken 

 by Wild Ducks. The feathers of the Cormorant, like 

 those of the Snake-bird (hereafter described) , become 

 saturated with water, so that the bird is obliged to 

 dry them by sitting in the sun on exposed branches of 

 trees. During the breeding season, the sides of the 

 neck are marked by long hair-like white feathers, while 

 a similar white patch occurs on the thighs. The head, 

 with its remarkable eyes, is quite reptile-like in char- 

 acter, as are also the actions of the bird. On the 

 Pacific coast and adjacent islands they congregate in 

 thousands, and may be seen, together with Murres and 

 Guillemots, seated on the rocks. In captivity they 

 are very quarrelsome, squabbling and fighting almost 

 continually, and unless kept in a large enclosure are 



