LIFE HISTORIES OF NOETH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 249 



with gluten, hard in the dried specimens and soft and gelatinous in those 

 more recent. One of the largest of the former, which was five and a quarter 

 inches in circumference and quite black, while all the others were of a light 

 color, contained three crabs {Cancer irroratm Say— Ponopetts sayi Smith) in 

 a fairly perfect condition, with some of the claws still remaining in place, 

 showing that they were probably swallowed whole. I am consequently in- 

 clined to the opinion, in the absence of absolute facts, that these birds, like 

 the owls, have the power of ejecting indigestible substances. 



Mr. Taverner (1915) says of their fishing habits: 



In the morning as soon as the sun is well up the cormorants fly in through 

 the narrow channel separating the basin from the bay, their numbers increas- 

 ing until about nine o'clock, when most of the birds are to be found fishing 

 in the shallow water at the head of the basin. On first coming in they alight 

 in the water, look about a minute, and then disappear with an easy gliding 

 dive. They generally remain under the water for about a minute. If they 

 have been successful in their fishing, their prey can be easily seen when they 

 reappear. They catch a fish crossways, and it takes a little manipulation and 

 sundry- jerks of the head to get it placed properly in the mouth ; then there 

 is an upward flirt of the bill and the fish is swallowed. A few gulps are 

 given and the bird is ready to repeat the operation. 



He says of their food: 



With the exception, then, of a few wandering birds, the cormorants feed 

 either along the sea coast, as at Percfi, or in the tidal mouths of the rivers. 

 We collected some thirty stomachs from such localities, but none of them 

 contained salmonoid remains. The food contents were mostly capelin, floun- 

 der, herring, and an occasional eel and torn cod. 



Of the thirty-two stomachs examined, five were empty, one so nearly so as 

 to make the contents unrecognizable, and two were from nestlings with con- 

 tents regurgitated from the parents' throat and, having been subject to double 

 digestive action, were not recognizable. 



Of the remaining twenty-five, sixteen contained sculpins, five herring, one 

 each capelin and eel, and two tom cod or allied fish. Nearly all had ascaria 

 and other parasitical remains. The evidence indicates that these were inci- 

 dentally obtained from the flesh of the original hosts. In many stomachs there 

 were fragments of eel-grass, crustaceans, molluscs, and pebbles, but in small 

 quantities and evidently derived from the stomachs of the prey or taken 

 accidentally with it. 



Behavior. — Except for an occasional hoarse grunting croak, when 

 alarmed, I have never heard the double-crested cormorant make any 

 vocal sound whatever and believe it is usually silent. Its flight, which 

 I have previously described, is characteristic of the genus, slow a,nd 

 heavy, with occasional periods of scaling. When flying from a spar 

 buoy, one of its favorite perches, it drops downward at first nearly 

 to the water and flies along close to the surface, rising in an upward 

 curve to its next alighting place. On bright, sunny days it frequently 

 stands on some convenient perch in an upright position, with its 

 wings outstretched in spread-eagle fashion, enjoying a sun bath. 

 Unless facing a strong wind it experiences considerable difficulty in 

 rising from the water, pattering along its surface for a long distance. 



