3 2 ; extent of wings 62 ; wing from flexure 14 ; tail 6£ ; bill along the
ridge 3 i 5
, along the edge of lower mandible 4 2
g ; tarsus 2% ; outer toe
5 T
3T
7g, its claw f J. Weight 7$ !b.
Female in July. Plate CCLXVI. Fig. 2.
The Female when old is similar to the male. In the state here represented,
the plumage in general is similar, but the white feathers of
the head and thighs are wanting. The bill, eyes and feet are coloured as
in the male, as are the bare parts about the base of the bill, only the
part under the eye which is bright red in the male, is bright yellow in
the female.
Young Birds unfledged. Plate CCLXVI. Fig. 3, 4.
The inside of the mouth and the gular sac flesh-coloured; the bill
dusky, at the base flesh-coloured ; the eyes bluish grey. The general colour
of their skin is dull livid ; the feet purplish-dusky, the webs yellowish
brown.
The following is a description of the smaller individual represented in
the plate, and which was about two weeks old. The length is twelve
inches and a half; the colour dull livid, the abdomen and breast lighter,
the forehead, gular sac, and bases of the mandibles, flesh-colour tinged
with yellow, as is the mouth. The head and upper part of the neck are
bare, as well as the lower surface of the wings. Over the rest of the body
are small down tufts rising in regular series, excepting along an impressed
line extending from the anterior part of the thorax to the anus. The
apertures of the ears are round, extremely small, being only half a twelfth
in diameter; the eyes very small, the iris grey. The aperture of the
posterior nares is linear-lanceolate, smooth on the edges, half an inch long.
A probe introduced into it passes readily out by the nostril, which is basal,
linear, small, two-twelfths long, placed at the commencement of the long
groove which separates the sides from the ridge of the mandible, and covered
above by the skin, so as to be not readily observed, although it is
easily dilatable. Each internal nostril is oblique, much wider below, and
has on its inner side a transverse soft ridge, which divides it into two cavities,
the posterior deep and funnel-shaped, passing backwards and upwards,
the anterior becoming narrower towards the external aperture.
The tongue is extremely small, four-twelfths long, elliptical, with a central
ridge. The oesophagus is extremely dilatable, and as far as the middle
of the neck is of larger diameter than below, but it again dilates as it
enters the stomach. Its length is five inches and a half. The inner coat
is smooth in its dilated part, but in the rest is raised into numerous longitudinal
ridges or folds, which at the lower part are undulated. The
stomach is oblong, four and a half inches long, quite membranous, and
without apparent central tendons. The gastric glands are disposed so as
to occupy two spaces, the one three and a half inches by two, the other a
little smaller. The inner coat is soft and without wrinkles. The intestine
is five feet two inches long, at its upper part three-twelfths in
diameter, gradually diminishing to one-twelfth. At the distance of two
inches from the anus are two cceca, three-twelfths long, one-twelfth in
diameter, and rounded. The contents of the stomach were fragments of
fish, with numerous bones, and a pebble about half an inch in diameter.
The heart triangular, much flattened. The liver of two very unequal
lobes, the right one two inches and a half long, the other one and a half.
The specimen, which I had preserved in spirits, was examined in my presence
by my friend Mr MACGILLIVRAY. Whether thefact of the anterior
aperture of the organ of smell being open in the young Cormorant has been
observed by any other person than myself, I know not; but it would seem
that the general opinion is, that Cormorants have no external nares in any
stage, and although some state that in the adult they exist, and are extremely
small, others allege that there are none at all.
A young female, shot in the end of October, on being carefully examined,
was found to present the following characters.
The length to the end of the tail was 36 inches, to the end of the
wings 2 9 | , to the end of the outer toe 34^ ; the extent of the wings 55 ;
the weight 5 lb. 1(H oz.
Bill along the ridge and unguis black, the sides brownish-grey ; the
lower mandible brownish-grey, dusky on the sides at the middle, the bare
skin at the base yellow, as is the gular sac. Upper part of the head and
hind neck brownish-black; the back greenish-black, its fore part, the scapulars
and the wing-coverts brownish-grey, the feathers edged with greenish
black, and an outer margin of brownish-white, most conspicuous on
the secondary coverts; the quills brownish-black, the secondaries tinged
with grey on the outer edge; the tail greyish-black, the shafts greyishblue.
Upper part of the throat brownish-white; the rest of the neck
greyish-white, mixed with brown; the breast and abdomen white, the
Gg2