412 THE COMMON CORMORANT. 



rather thick; body full, elongated, depressed. Feet short, stout, placed far 

 behind; tibia feathered in its whole length; tarsus very short, strong, much 

 depressed, covered all round with angular scales; a series on part of the inner 

 side anteriorly, and another on the lower part of the outer, scutelliform. 

 Toes all placed in the same plane, connected by webs, and covered above by 

 very numerous oblique scutella; first the smallest, fourth the longest. Claws 

 rather small, strong, compressed, acute, convex above, arched, that of the 

 third toe pectinated on its inner edge. Plumage soft, generally blended, 

 compact on the back and wings; the small gular sac, and the space before 

 and beneath the eye, with the eyelids, bare. Wings of moderate size, broad; 

 primaries curved, pointed, the second longest. Tail of moderate length, 

 very narrow, much rounded, of twelve or more narrow strong-shafted 

 feathers. Gular sac small; tongue extremely small; oesophagus very wide; 

 proventricular glands disposed in two large roundish masses; stomach small, 

 slightly muscular, inner coat smooth and soft; a globular or triangular pyloric 

 lobe; duodenum at first curving upwards; intestine very long, and of 

 moderate width; coeca small; rectum narrow; cloaca globular. Trachea 

 considerably flattened; bronchi of moderate width. 



THE COMMON CORMORANT. 



+Phalacrocorax Carbo, Linn. 

 PLATE CCCCXV Male, Female, and Young. 



Look at the birds before you, and mark the affectionate glance of the 

 mother, as she stands beside her beloved younglings! I wish you could 

 have witnessed the actions of such groups as I did while in Labrador. 

 Methinks I still see the high rolling billows of the St. Lawrence breaking in 

 foaming masses against the huge cliffs, on the shelves of which the Cormorant 

 places its nest. I lie flat on the edge of the precipice some hundred feet 

 above the turbulent waters, and now crawling along with all care, I find 

 myself only a few yards above the spot on which the parent bird and her 

 young are fondling each other, quite unconscious of my being near. How 

 delighted I am to witness their affectionate gratulations, hear their lisping 



