GANNET
117. Sula bassana. 35 in.
Primaries black; rest of plumage white; back of head tinged with straw color; bill and feet bluish black. Young grayish or brownish black, mottled above and streaked below. This species is the largest and most northerly distributed of the gannet family. Thousands upon thousands of them breed upon high rocky islets off the British coast. The only known nesting places used by them in this country are Bird Rock and Bonaventure Island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence; in these places they nest by thousands, their rough piles of seaweed touching each other in long rows on the narrow ledges.
Notes.—A harsh “gor-r-r-rok.” (Chapman).
Range.—North Atlantic, breeding, on the American side, only on islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Winters along the whole United States coast, floating in large flocks out at sea, and rarely coming on land.
DARTERS—Family Anhingdæ
ANHINGA; SNAKE BIRD
118. Anhinga anhinga. 35 in.
Adult male with a glossy greenish-black head, neck and underparts, the neck being covered behind, in breeding season, with numerous filamentous, whitish plumes. Female and young with neck and breast fawn color in front. Eyes red, face greenish and gular pouch orange. Middle tail feathers curiously crimped. These peculiar birds spend their lives within the recesses of swamps, the more dismal and impenetrable, the better. They perch on limbs overhanging the water and dive after fish, frogs, lizards, etc., that pass beneath, from which they get one of their names, American Darter. They swim with the body submerged, with only their serpent-like head and neck visible; hence they are called Snake-birds.
Nest.—Of sticks and leaves in bushes or trees over water, large colonies of them nesting in the same swamp. The 3 to 5 eggs are bluish, covered with a chalky deposit (2.25 × 1.35).
Range.—Breeds north to the Carolinas and Ill. Winters in Gulf States.
CORMORANTS—Family Phalacrocoracidæ
CORMORANT
119. Phalacrocorax carbo. 36 in.
Largest of our cormorants; tail with 14 feathers. Adults with glossy black head, neck and underparts; in breeding season with white plumes on the neck and a white patch on the flanks. Young with throat and belly white, rest of underparts mixed brown with black. Cormorants feed chiefly upon fish which they pursue and catch under water. They were formerly extensively, and are now to a less extent, used by the Chinese to catch fish for them, a ring being placed around their neck to prevent their swallowing their prey.
Nest.—Made of seaweed and sticks on narrow ledges of rocky islets or sea cliffs, this species being entirely maritime. The four eggs are greenish-white, covered with a chalky deposit (2.50 × 1.40).
Range.—Breeds from Nova Scotia and Newfoundland north to Labrador and Greenland; winters south to the middle states.
