THE COMMON" CORMORANT. 
129 
markings on the head and thighs, they might readily be mistaken for a 
different species, by a person unacquainted with their habits. 
The singular fact that the young of some species of Cormorant have open 
nostrils until they are nearly half-grown, may surprise you as much as it 
surprised me. Having observed it in many individuals, I preserved one in 
spirits, and of it you will find a description beneath. 
The Common Cormorant is rarely seen farther south than the extreme 
limits of Maryland ; but from Chesapeake Bay eastward, it becomes more 
plentiful ; and in severe winters, I have seen it exposed for sale in the New 
York market. They are abundant in winter around the islands of the Bay 
of Boston, and on the coasts of Massachusetts and Maine, where most of 
them remain during autumn, winter, and the early part of spring, as well as 
on the Bay of Fundy and along the shores of Nova Scotia. I am unable to 
say how far north they go beyond Labrador, to breed, or what may be the 
limits of their range on the St. Lawrence in autumn. I have never seen 
one on a tree, or on fresh water. The flesh of this species is dark, tough, 
and fishy, its eggs also do not furnish agreeable food, and it is seldom that 
either are eaten, even by epicures. 
Phalacrocorax Carbo, Bonap. Syn., p. 402. 
Cormorant, Nutt. Man., vol. ii. p. 479. 
Common Cormorant, Phalacrocorax Carbo, Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. iii. p. 458. 
Male, 37, 62. 
Ranges during winter southward to New York. Abundant from Massa- 
chusetts eastward. Breeds on high precipitous rocks, in Newfoundland, 
Labrador, and Baffin’s Bay. Migratory. 
Adult Male in March. 
Bill about the length of the head, rather slender, somewhat compressed, 
straight, with the tip curved. Upper mandible with the dorsal line sloping 
and slightly concave, at the tip decurved, its ridge broad and rounded, and 
separated from the sides by a narrow groove, the sides erect, irregularly 
scaly, convex, the edges sharp and straight as far as the unguis, at the base 
a distinct horny plate, the unguis strong, convex above, incurved, acute. No 
external nostrils when full-grown. Lower mandible with the angle long 
and very narrow towards the end, filled by an extensible membrane, which 
extends a short way down the throat, its short dorsal line a little convex, 
then concave, the sides scaly, erect, and slightly convex, the edges sharp and 
inflected, the tip compressed and obliquely truncate. 
Head rather large, oblong, narrowed before. Neck long and stout. Body 
rather full, depressed. Feet short, stout, placed far behind ; tibia feathered 
in its whole length ; tarsus very short, strong, much compressed, covered all 
Vol. VIL— 17 
