64 



NEBTS AND EQGS OF 





118. Anhinga. 

 pearing. It has also the curious habit of quietly sinking like a grebe. The nests ' 

 of the Anhlnga are variously placed — sometimes in low bushes at- an elevation of 

 only a few feet, or in the upper branches of a high tree, but always over water. 

 Sometimes this bird breeds in large colonies with various species of Herons.. The 

 eggs are from three to iive in number, bluish or dark greenish-white, with a white 

 chalky incrustation; they are narrow and elongated in shape; the sizes range from 

 2.00 to 2.30 long by 1.30 to 1.40 broad. In Florida the Water Turkey deposits its eggs 

 m April; many eggs are collectei in March, and a writer in The Ooldj/ist'iMiLy, 1893, 

 p. 149), states he has seen nests occupied in February. Mr. Tl. W. Williams, jr., in- 

 forms me than the Anhihga will occupy the same nest year after year with little 

 repairs. In a small swamp near Tallahassee the nests arc frequently found in close 

 proximity to those of Ward's Herons. He states the Anhlnca may be robbed of its 

 eggs constantly and yet they will continue to nest in the same swamp. 



119. COKacORAWT. Plialacrocorax carlo (Linn.) Geog. Dist.— Atlantic coasts 

 of Europe and America, south in winter on the coast of the United States, casually 

 to the Carolinas. 



The Common Cormorant is very generally distributed throughout nearly the 

 entire northern hemisphere. It breeds in the northern parts of Europe and Asia, 

 and in North America from the Bay of Fundy to Greenland. The Cormorants are 

 curious birds of strange figure; the outer surface of the plumage in most species 

 normally is of a dark lustrous greenish-black, but subject to great changes, making 

 their study very difficult. The eyes as a rule are green, a color ra^ly seen in birds. 

 They feed principally upon fish and their voracity is proverbial. This- species breeds 

 In vast numbers on the rocky shores of Labrador and Newfoundland; making the 

 nest upon the tops of ledges or on projections and in the crevices of precipitous rocks, 

 which are covered with the excrement of the birds. It is composed of sticks, kelp 

 and sea weed. Like all the Cormorants this species is gregarious and breeds in 

 communities. They are all known under the common name of Shag. Mr. Prazer 



