A Synopsis of the Birds of North America

by John James Audubon

Plate CCLVII. Male.

Tail of twelve feathers. In summer an elongated tuft of about forty long, slender, loose, recurved feathers, from behind the eye to the length of an inch and a half on each side; upper mandible dusky, along the edges greenish-yellow, lower yellow, irregularly marked with dusky toward the edges; bare space on the head, and gular sac rich orange; plumage greenish-black, strongly glossed with green; imbricated feathers on the back and wings greyish-brown, their fringe-like margins greenish-black; primary quills brownish-black, secondary like the other wing-feathers; tail black; the shafts of all the feathers black. Female similar to the male. After the breeding season the tufts disappear. Young after the first moult have the head and neck mottled with greenish-black and greyish-brown, the other parts as in the adult, but the tufts on the head wanting.

Male, 33, 51.

Common as far south as the coast of Maryland, in winter. Breeds in Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as on the Saskatchewan.

Pelecanus (Carbo) dilophus, Double-crested Cormorant, Swains. & Rich. F. Bor. Amer. v. ii. p. 473.

Double-crested Cormorant, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 483.

Double-crested Cormorant, Phalacrocorax dilophus, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iii. p. 420; v. v. p. 629.

418. 3. Phalacrocorax Floridanus, Aud. Florida Cormorant.

Plate CCLI. Male.

Tail of twelve feathers. In summer an elongated series of about forty linear feathers directed backwards, commencing behind the eye, and extending to the length of an inch and a half on each side; upper mandible black, along the basal margin bright blue, lower bright blue, spotted with white; bare space on the head and gular sac rich orange; plumage greenish-black, strongly glossed with green; imbricated feathers on the back and wings greyish-brown, tinged with purple, their fringe-like margins greenish-black; primary quills brownish-black, secondary like the other feathers of the wing; tail brownish-black; shafts of all the feathers brownish-black. Female similar to the male. After the breeding season the tufts disappear. Young after the first moult with the bill dull yellow, the ridge of the upper mandible dusky, naked parts of the head rich yellow; upper part of the head and neck brownish-black, tinged with green, throat grayish-white; fore neck and anterior part of breast variegated with pale brownish-grey and black; the rest of the plumage as in the adult, but the imbricated feathers of the upper parts lighter. This species differs from the last, chiefly in being smaller, and in having the elongated feathers behind the eye more slender and directed backwards instead of being recurved.

Male, 29¹/₄, 46¹/₂.

Constantly resident in the Floridas and their Keys, and along the coast to Texas. The young in summer pass up the Mississippi and Ohio, returning in autumn to the sea. Abundant. Breeds on trees only.