LARGE BLACK CORMORANT 137 
the year. In the year 1890 I was shown at Airey's 
Inlet what I believe to have been a nest of this species. 
It was composed of seaweed, piled up on a ledge on the 
seaward face of the cliff near the caves. For a year 
or more it had not been tenanted, but certainly it 
was a Cormorant's nest, and the Large Black is the 
only species at all common in that part. In some other 
parts of Australia this bird nests in trees, but does 
not do so in the Geelong district. 
In flight, the whitish feathers on the sides of the 
head and throat are conspicuous. 
LITTLE BLACK CORMORANT 
Mesocarbo ater ater 
Much smaller than its Large Black relative, and 
without the whitish head-feathers, the Little Black 
Cormorant may also be distinguished by the curiously 
thick appearance of the neck seen sideways in flight. 
I find they are the rarest of our four local species, 
and although they are always to be seen in small 
numbers on the Bay, I have few notes concerning 
them. They breed nowhere in the district. The 
most I ever saw at one place were less than a dozen, 
at Point Henry, on August 24th, 191 2. Out of the 
flock of 559 Cormorants referred to in the notes on 
the preceding species, there were only five Little 
Blacks. It is rarely, if ever, seen on the Barwon 
or Lakes, and I do not recollect meeting with it 
along the coast. 
