18 
anchorage, and in a few places, such as among the islets near Prince Rupert 
and at Unalaska, there were flocks of a hundred or more. As a rule, the 
birds were well scattered, singly or in twos and threes. A favourite perch for 
them along the inside waters of the British Columbia coast was a floating 
log. In the towns, villages, or cities visited there was usually a “shag” or 
two haunting the wharf. On many of the surf-pounded rocky points of the 
Aleutians these black sentinels stood at attention, and often also they were 
met at sea a good distance from the islands. Oest, Kamchatka, showed no 
cormorants, but this undoubtedly was due to the open and unprotected 
bay, for they appeared again at Petropavlovsk, April 25. 
On the return in July and August breeding colonies were seen at 
Broughton bay and Petropavlovsk. In searching for food the cormorant 
does not make such long flights from the rookery as many of the other sea- 
birds do, for on the direct courses homeward from Bering island to Prince 
Rupert, a mere half dozen birds were seen and these were all close to the 
islands. After leaving Petropavlovsk the largest number seen was near 
Sydney, V.I., where, on August 20, twenty-five or thirty were in the channel. 
One of the most puzzling things about these spring companies of 
cormorants was the varying proportion of white-flanked birds. Only on 
one or two occasions were the white neck filaments noted, but this was 
mainly due to the fact that the birds seldom were seen at short ranges. 
But the white flanks contrasting with the black coats — most apparent, of 
course, when the bird was in flight — shone like beacon flares to be seen 
afar. The first white-flanked bird was noted near Alert bay, B.C. After- 
wards one or two could be found in almost every company. What propor- 
tion of the birds were white-flanked cannot be stated, but in March and 
April it was considerably below one-half. Thus, among large numbers 
heading inland near Prince Rupert on March 4, only two or three were white- 
flanked. On the 6th, in the same waters, only one white-marked bird was 
seen in about one hundred examined. Possibly some of these flocks of 
unmarked birds were of the foregoing species for they were seen at some 
distance. Again, outside Nazan bay, Atka island, a dozen were met, 
nearly all white-patched. The only adult secured on the trip (July 31, 
Petropavlovsk) had lost nearly every trace of these breeding adornments, 
yet many others at this time were in full regalia. The explanation ad- 
vanced by Stejneger seems the only logical one: he agrees that the breeding 
season, being a protracted one, brings forth young of the same year differing 
in age as much as three months, and the succeeding moults of these birds 
can, therefore, be complete only at widely different times. 
9 Cordova, Alaska. March 15. Juvenile. 
9 ? Unalaska, Alaska. March 26. Juvenile. 
9 Petropavlovsk, Kamchatka. July 31. Adult. 
The last listed specimen should be approximately topotypical of Phalacrocorax pelagictis pelagicus. 
The other two are undoubtedly the same form. Save for the slightly longer bill of the Petropav- 
lovsk bird there is little if any difference between these two specimens and others from Vancouver 
island that have been referred to resplendens. 
Phalacrocorax urile (Gmelin). Red-faced Cormorant 
This bird was looked for keenly in the western Aleutians. On April 9, 
as the Thiepval left Nazan bay, Atka island, and reached the outer waters, 
three cormorants that seemed noteworthy approached the ship. “One, 
very large, had white markings about the neck as well as a resplendent 
white flank. Another, on the water at close quarters showed a red face, 
