260 AVES. 



flank. These ornaments fall in a few wcok?;, ar.rl are but imperfectly developed in younger individuals, and 

 seldom except in a state of perfect libfity. In sonic parts of Europe, this species builds upon house-tops, and not 

 unfrequently on trees : but i^m the .lii-Jlisli cnast, tljey mostly resort to precipitous rocks or islets, generally in 

 society. From their croaking \-njce, dark colour, and appearance on the wing, they are often termed i^ca Crows. 

 They can climb ^vith considerable facility, aided by the beak and rigid tail-feathers. Occasionally they fly to inland 

 ■Waters and fish-preserves, where they are notoriously destructive, and are observed to evince a marked preference 

 for Eels. 



The other S[iecies, or Crested Cormorant, (Plml. rrisfn/ns, Glass), is smaller, and less robust, with only t'.velve tail- 

 feathers ; its o^los^es incline more to green, and the adults have an elegant recur\ed crest during the breeding 

 season. This bird is commoner towards the north, while the preceding is more numerous southward : neverthe- 

 less, the Bronzed Cormorant appears to occur in both continents, whereas the Crested is represented in North 

 America by a different one (Ph. difop/ms), both of these extendmg tu high latitudes, though respectively peculiar 

 to the Old and New World, so tar as has yet been observed. 



A third European species is the Black Cormorant [Pel. grandus, Gm.); a diminutive of the first, but possessing 

 only twelve tail-feathers, like the preceding, with which it has been confounded until very recently, by British 

 naturalists. It iidiabits to the southward of the Briti^^h Isles, in \\hich it has not hitherto been met with.J 



The Tachvpi:,T[-:s ['J'ac/n:/<r//'.\\ ViLilh.it) — 

 Dift'er from the Cormorants liy a forked tail, short feet, tin: niemliranes of which are very deeply notched, 

 an e\ces:?ive spread of wing, and a beak both mandibles of which are curved at the tip. Tlieir wings 

 arc sopowcrfid that they tly at an immenso distance from all land, and priiicipaliy between the tropics, 

 darting upon the Flying-tish, and striking the Gannets to make them disgorge tlicir prey. 



One only is known (PeL oquilus, Lin.}, the plumage of which is [richly empurpled] black, the under-part of the 

 throat more or less varied with white, and the beak red. Its extent of wing is reported to be sometimes ten or 

 even twelve feet. [This is the noted FiUjaie-blrd, or Man-of-War-bii-d, of the English sailors, which is surpassed 



in command of vviu!^ by none of the class, if equalled by any. It breeds on trees on uninhabited islands, and 

 la\s a single spherical white egg.] 



The Gannets {Sula, Brisson ; Dysporus, Iliiger) — 

 Have a straight beak, slightly compressed and pointed, with the tip a little arcuated, and its edges serrated, 

 the denticulations [which are more developed in the Cormorants] directed backwards : the [im- 

 pervious] nostrils are prolonged in a line nearly to the tip : the throat is naked, as is also the skin of 

 the eyes ; the former hut slightly extensible : inner edge of the middle claw serrated. The wings are 

 less extended than in the Tacliypetes, and the tail is a little cnneated. These birds are called Boobies, on 

 account of the stupidity with which they [certain species of tliem] allow^ tliemselves to be attacked by 

 men and birds, more particularly tlie Tachypetes, which, as already stated, furce them to yield up tlie 

 prey they have captured. 



The most common is the European Gannet {Pel. hassmnis, Lin.). — \Miite, with black feet and wing primaries, 

 the bill greenish, and nearly equal in size to a Goose. [A common species in the British seas, which breeds ui 

 vast numbers upon the Bass rock in the Frith of Forth, and one or two other similar localities : the young are at 

 first covered with the blackish down common to the group, in which they contrast remarkably \^"ith their \vhite 

 parents; their first plumage is dark above, beautifully speckled with white, these terminal specks gradually 

 wearing off. The Gannets take tlieir jirey by plunging upon it from on high, and sail with an easy flight, with 

 little motion of the wings. Their air cavities are extraordinarily developed ; the ambient medium permeating ail 

 their bones with the exception of the phalanges of the toes, and passing under the skin of the breast, which is 

 only attached to the muscles by a number of scattered connecting pillars ; a structure which is also met with in 

 the Phaetons.] 



The Anhingas {P/o/ks, I. in.) — 

 "With the body and feet nearly like those of a Cormorant, have a very long neck, and a slender, straight, 

 and pointed bill, with denticulated edges ; the eyes and nudity of the face as in tlie Pelicans, of which 

 they have likewise the habits, nestling, like tliose Idrds, upon trees. [They may be described as Cor- 

 morants, with the bill and neck of a Heron. 



Two or three species are found, in both continents ; tlie body infei'ior in size to (hat of a common Duck.] 



The Phaetons {Phaeton, Lin.) — 

 Are known by their two very long and slender tail-feathers, which, at a distance, rcseinlile a straw. 

 Their head has no naked part. The hetdv is straight, pointed, denticulated, and moderately stout, 

 [with pervious nostrils at all ages] : their feet are short, and their wings long. Acconlingh, they fly 

 very far from land, on the high seas ; and as they rarely quit the boundaries of the torrid zone, their 

 appearance serves to indicate to mariners the vicinity of the tropic, [whence their common name of 



