COKMORANTS 



(120) Phalacrocorax auritus 

 auritus 



(Less.) (Lat., eared). 



DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMOR- 

 ANT. Gular sac convex behind. 

 Tail of 12 feathers. Ad. in siintmer — 

 As shown; lustrous greenish-black; 

 back copper>--brown; two ear tufts. 

 In winter, similar but lacking the ear 

 tufts. Im. — Grayish-brown above; 

 lighter below, with patches of dusky 

 and white. L., 31.00. W., 12.50; 

 T., 7.00; B,, 2.30. Nest — On ledges 

 on the coast, on the ground or in 

 trees in the interior. 



Range — Breeds from Me. and 

 Minn, north to Labrador and Sask. 



(i2oa) P. a. floridanus (And.) 

 FLORIDA CORMORANT. Smaller 

 than the last. L., less than 30.00; 

 W., 12.00. Breeds from N. Car. and 

 III. southward. 



webbino; of which gives the maximum of push; short, stiff 

 wings that, flapped in a half-open position, add greatly to 

 the speed of progress; a perfect tail-rudder to guide them, 

 and a bill that can retain its hold on the most slippery fish. 



DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS and the similar 

 southern form, Florida Cormorants, are the most abundant 

 of the three eastern species. On the coast they nest, as 

 do the larger Common Cormorants, on rocky ledges; in the 

 south they nest in trees in dense swamps; and in the interior 

 of the United States and Canada they commonly nest on 

 the ground. Whatever the locations, cormorant nesting 

 grounds are filthy places, the rocks, the ground or trees being 

 smeared with white excrement and reeking with the odor of 

 decaying fish. They always nest in colonies, every hollow 

 on the ground sometimes containing its quota of eggs or 

 young. 



The young birds are fed upon the same diet as their 

 parents — fish. These are brought to the nest in the throats 



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