CORMORANTS. Family PHALACROCORACID^E
Cormorants have a more bulky body than do the Anhingas; their tail is
shorter and the bill strongly hooked at the tip. Cormorants are found in
nearly all quarters of the globe. They are very gregarious and most species
are maritime. They feed upon fish which they catch by pursuing under water. Most of the Cormorants have green eyes.
TOTIPALMATE SWIMMERS
119. CORMORANT. PTialacrocorax carbo.
Range. The Atlantic coast breeding from Maine
to Greenland.
The common Cormorant or Shag is one of the
largest of the race, having a length of 36 inches.
In breeding plumage, the black head and neck
are so thickly covered with the slender white
plumes as to almost wholly obscure the black. There is also a large white patch on the flanks. They nest in colonies on the rocky shores of New
Chalky greenish or bluish whitae
foundland and Labrador, placing their nests of
sticks and seaweed in rows along the high ledges, where they sit, as one writer aptly expresses it, like so many black bottles. A few pairs also nest on some of the isolated rocky islets off the Maine coast. During the latter part of May and during June they lay generally four or five greenish white, chalky looking eggs. Size 2.50 x 1.40. Data. Black Horse Rock, Maine coast, June 6, 1893. Four eggs in a nest of seaweed and a few sticks; on a high ledge of rock. Collector, C. A. Reed.
Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant:
120. DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT. Phalacrocorax auritus auritus.
Range. The Atlantic coast and also in the interior, breeding from Nova
Scotia and North Dakota northward.
This is a slightly smaller bird than carbo, and in the nesting season the white
plumes of the latter are replaced by tufts of black and white feathers from
above each eye. On the coast they nest the same as carbo and in company with
them on rocky islands. In the interior they place their nests on the ground or
occasionally in low trees on islands in the lakes. They breed in large colonies, making the nests of sticks and weeds and lay three or four eggs like those of the common Cormorant but averaging shorter. Size 2.30 x 1.40. Data. Stump Lake, North Dakota, May 31, 1897. Nest of dead weeds on an island. Six eggs. Collector, T. F. Eastgate.
79
Walter Raine
NESTS OF DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS
80
TOTIPALMATE SWIMMERS
120a. FLORIDA CORMORANT. Phalacrocorax auritus ftoridanus.
This sub-species is a common breeding bird in the swamps and islands of the
Gulf coast and north to South Carolina and southern Illinois. The nests are
placed in the mangroves in some of the most impenetrable swamps and are
composed of twigs and lined with leaves or moss. They lay three or four chalky
bluish white eggs. Size 2.30x1.40. Data. Bird Is., Lake Kissimee, Florida, April 5, 1898. Three eggs. Nest made of weeds and grass, in a willow bush.
120b. WHITE-CRESTED CORMORANT. Phalacrocorax auritus cincinatus.
Range. Northwestern coast of North America, breeding in Alaska, and south
to the northern boundary of the United States, breeding both in the interior
and on the coast, in the former case generally on the ground or in low trees
on swampy islands and in the latter, on the rocky cliffs of the coasts and
islands. The nests are built in the same fashion as the other Cormorants, and
the three to five eggs are similar. Size 2.45 x 1.40.
120c. FARALLON CORMORANT. Phalacrocorax auritus albociliatus.
Range. This sub-species breeds on the coasts and islands of California and
southward.
In company with other species of Cormorants, these birds breed in large
numbers on the Farallones, placing their nests well up on the higher ridges and
rocks. They breed most abundantly during May. When nesting on the inland
islands, they place their nests in low bushes. Their nests and eggs are similar
to those of the other Cormorants. Size 2.40 x 1.50. Data. Farallones, California. Nest of weeds and seaweed on the rocks. Collector, W. O. Emerson.
121. MEXICAN CORMORANT. Phalacrocorax vigua mexicanus.
Range. Breeds abundantly from southern Texas, south through
north rarely to Kansas; har
Greenish white
Mexico;