BIRDS—PHALACROCORACIDAE—GRACULUS VIOLACEUS. 
881 
No. 9892 is larger, the wing measuring 12 inches ; the bill, 3 ; the tail, 5.50. 
Young. Head, neck, back, and wings blackish brown, the feathers of the hack and wings 
with greyish brown margins ; under plumage dull rusty brown, the middle of the abdomen 
greyish ; gorgelet fawn color as in the adult. This is the plumage of one of the original 
specimens of Mr. Audubon’s “ townsendi” (now in the cabinet of Professor Baird.) The fawn 
colored gorgelet which extends in a point on the lower part of the gular sac, together with the 
form and character of the hill, agreeing with the specimens of the adult under examination, in 
my opinion, are satisfactory evidence of its being this species. 
The true position of “townsendi” heretofore has been one of much uncertainty. G-ray, in 
Gen. of Birds, places it under “dilophus” as the young, as does also Gambel in Jour. Phil. 
Acad. Bonaparte, in Cons. Avium, puts it with a question, as a synonym of “Gr. brasilianus, 
Gm.,” but in Comptes Rendus has it under “ dilophus.” 
The form of the gular sac, and whether entirely hare or encroached upon by the feathers of 
the throat, are points which appear to have been generally overlooked in describing the different 
species of cormorants. I consider these features strong characters, that will materially aid in 
determining species when not in mature plumage, as maybe instanced in the above case. 
The bill is of moderate strength, and entirely smooth both on the sides and ridge. 
List of specimens. 
Catal. 
No. 
Sex and 
age. 
Locality. 
When col¬ 
lected. 
Whence obtained. 
Orig’l 
No. 
Collected by— ; 
Wings. 
Remarks. 
2742 
3 o 
Cape Disappointment, 
Columbia river_ 
Oct. 8,1836 
S. F. Baird. 
J. K. Townsend. 
(rides darkhazel. 
California_ 
Cab. G. N. Lawrence 
1037 
10. 75 
9892 
San Francisco, Cal. .. 
Lt. Trowbridge_ 
12. 00 
4501 
Farrallon islands, Cal. 
Lt. Williamson_ 
Dr. Heermann_ 
10.50 
GRACULUS VIOLACEUS, Gray. 
Violet Green Cormorant. 
Pelecanus violaccus, Gm. Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 575. 
Graculus violaceus, Gray, Gen. of Birds, 1845.— Bon. Comptes Rendus, XLII, 1856, 766. 
Phalacrocorax resplendens, Aud. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 148. — Ib. Syn. 1839, 304. — Ib. Birds Am. VI, 1843, 430 ; pi. 
ccccxix. 
Urile bicrislatus, Bon. Cons. Av. II, 1855, 175. 
Sp. Ch.—V iolet green ; narrow white feathers are sparingly distributed on the sides of the neck, and hind part and sides of 
the body ; gular sac orange. 
Jldult. Crown and sides of the head dark bluish green, gradually blending with the beautiful violet blue of the hind head and 
entire neck ; back, rump, wings, and under plumage of a rich deep green ; axillars, sides under the wings, and thighs violet blue; 
smaller wing coverts violet; primaries brownish black, as are the other quills on their inner webs ; tail and shafts black ; the 
entire plumage very lustrous and silky in appearance ; dispersed over the neck and on the sides of the body near the thighs are 
numerous short white piliform feathers which expand at the end in the form of a small brush ; gular sac and bare space about 
the eye orange; feathers of the throat extend upon the lower part of the gular sac for about half its length, and terminate in a 
point; upper mandible blackish brown, lower dusky yellow ; legs and feet black. 
Length, 28 inches ; alar extent, 41 ; wing, 10.50 ; tail, 6.25 ; bill, 2 ; tarsus, 1.90 , outer toe and claw, 3.75. 
Hab. —Western coast of North Amorica. California, Washington Territory. 
Sept. 23, 1858. 
Ill b 
