150 
fore neckj and all the nnderparts with thick, cottony, white down ; hare space round the eyes and rictal 
membrane bright yellow. Bill dull yellow, veined with brown, which colour prevails on the culmcn ; legs 
and feet black. The newly-hatched chick, before the down appears, looks as if burnished with black-lead. 
Fledgling. The first plumage to appear is on the wings and that composing the mantle, these feathers being very 
acuminate in form, with a filamentous fringe, of a slaty-brown colour, very slightly glossed and narrowly 
margined with an edging of velvety brown ; also the t;iil-feathers and their upper coverts, which are black, 
the latter being glossed with green ; next the feathers of the underparts appear, coming up for the most part 
pure white, but with an admixture of brown as described above. 
Ohs. The sexes are precisely alike in plumage, hut differ slightly in size. 
The adult colours are acquired in the nest, hut undergo a subsequent change. The nestling has the 
upper parts covered with hlackish-brown down, which deepens into black on the hind neck, whilst the down 
covering the fore neck and all the underparts is pure white. But on the fledgling the colours arc not so 
well marked, the dark plumage of the upper surface being suffused with grey, and the white of the under- 
parts being lightly streaked and freckled all over with greyish brown. In addition to this the feathers have 
a frayed-out appearance. 
This species frequents the lakes and freshwater rivers, and is seldom met with on the sea-coast except 
during the breeding-season. In other respects its habits do not appear to differ in any material point 
from those of the preceding bird. Its usual station is a fallen tree or a stump projecting from the 
water ; and it may frequently be seen spreading its wings to the sun, and sometimes remaining in 
that position for a considerable time. 
It is far more plentiful on the shores of the North Island and particularly so in the provincial 
district of Auckland, becoming scarce in Hawke’s Bay, and very rare indeed south of Cook’s Strait. 
On the wing, its snow-white underparts gleaming in the sunshine, or artistically posed on some 
projecting stump near the river-bank, it is always a conspicuous object. 
They are very destructive to the introduced carp in the lakes and lagoons in the neighbourhood 
of Auckland. Their crops are often found completely crammed with them, and in one instance a 
carp measuring 10 inches in length was taken from a Pied Shag’s throat. From time to time the 
Acclimatization Society prosecutes an active crusade, but the Shags appear to be as plentiful as ever 
in all suitable localities. 
Sir J. von Haast writes : — “ They are capital fishers ; and one day I was witness how well they 
understood how to procure their food. It was near the spot where one of the northern spurs of 
Mount Murchison slopes down to the Buller, which here forms small falls and rapids. A Cormorant 
w’as standing on an isolated rock, round which the foaming waters dashed down ; and I Avas not a 
little surprised to see him jump down into the white foam. In the first instance I thought he would 
not get out again, but would be dashed to death by the whirling waters ; but soon he reappeared, 
swimming rapidly towards the edge, and then fiying on to his old observatory to continue his sport. 
It is probable that small fishes are taken down by the falls, and, being stunned by the force of the 
water, are easily caught by the courageous bird. This is a new proof that nature has given to every 
animal the requisite physical strength to contend with the elements in which it has to look for its 
subsistence.” 
This species nests in trees in the vicinity of water and always in communities. Far up the 
courses of the freshwater rivers, on a single tree overhanging the stream, five or six pairs may be found 
associated, their nests formed of twigs and other dry materials pressed into a compact structure and 
fixed firmly among the branches. Many such places are known to me, and one in particular, some 
fifty miles up the Wairoa river, north of Auckland, was occupied, within my own knowledge, for ten 
or twelve years in succession, in spite of repeated molestation by the natives. In other suitable 
