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British Birds. 
The Pelican-like Birds .— Order Pelecaniformes. 
I hese birds are also known as Steganopodes, and are remarkable for having the 
hind toe joined to the others by a web. The order includes the Pelicans, Cormorants, 
Gannets, Frigate-Birds, and Tropic-Birds. A Wild Pelican is said to have been 
shot at Horsey Fen in 1663, but is believed to have been an escaped bird. In 
ancient times Pelicans certainly used to inhabit England, as their remains have 
been found in the fen-lands. 
THE CORMORANTS. 
Sub-order 
PHALACKOCORACES. 
These birds have a sharply hooked bill, and are further 
distinguished by their black plumage from their allies, the 
Gannets. 
The Common Cormorant (Plialacrocorax carbo). Al- 
though, when seen in flight, and at a distance, the Cormorant appears to be perfectly 
black, on closer examination it will be found that there is a good deal of metallic 
gloss on the bird’s plumage, the general colour of the upper surface being glossy 
blue-black, while the wings are bronzy-brown, with black edges to the feathers. In 
the breeding season appears a crest of glossy blue-black plumes, and a patch of 
white on the sides of the lower flanks, while the head, neck, and lower throat are 
covered with a dense mass of filamentous white plumes. These ornamental plumes 
begin to make their appearance at the end of January, and are full}' developed by 
the end of February; but they do not last long and are completely shed by the 
middle of May, though the white flank-plumes are retained for some time longer. 
It should be noted that the Cormorant has fourteen tail-feathers which will always 
serve to distinguish the young birds in their brown plumage from those of the Shag, 
which has only twelve tail-feathers, and is a smaller bird. 
The Cormorant breeds on the rocky cliffs and islands in most parts of the coasts 
of England, excepting on the east and south, where there are not so many places 
suitable to the bird’s habits, but in Scotland and Ireland it nests not only on the 
rocky coasts, but in some inland districts on trees. It is found nearly everywhere in 
the Old World, and along the Atlantic Coast of North America. 
Though rather an awkward bird on land, the Cormorant is a splendid swimmer 
and catches large quantities of fish ; it has the power, when swimming, of 
submerging its body, so that often only the head and neck are seen above the 
surface of the water. The nest is a roughly constructed conglomeration of old sticks 
and sea-weed, often lined with green leaves of some sea-plant. The eggs are two 
