Birds of America
By John James Audubon, F. R. SS. L. & E.
VOLUME VI.
Family
Genus
THE FLORIDA CORMORANT.
[Double-crested Cormorant (see also Double-Crested Cormorant).]
PHALACROCORAX FLORIDANUS, Aud.
[Phalacrocorax auritus.]
PLATE CCCCXVII.--MALE.
The Florida Cormorant seldom goes far out to sea, but prefers the
neighbourhood of the shores, being found in the bays, inlets, and large rivers.
I never met with one at a greater distance from land than five miles. It is at
all seasons gregarious, although it is not always found in large flocks. The
birds of this species never suffer others of the same genus to resort to their
breeding places, although they sometimes associate with individuals belonging to
different genera. The P. Carbo appropriates to itself the upper shelves of the
most rugged and elevated rocks, whose bases are washed by the sea; P. dilophus
breeds on flat rocky islands at some distance from the shores of the mainland;
and the Florida Cormorant nestles on trees. In the many breeding places of all
these species which I have visited, I never found individuals of one
intermingled with those of another, although the Large Cormorant did not seem
averse from having the Peregrine Falcon in its vicinity, while the
Double-crested allowed a few Gannets or Guillemots to nestle beside it, and the
Florida Cormorant associated with Herons, Frigate Pelicans, Grakles, or Pigeons.
This species seldom flies far over land, but follows the sinuosities of the
shores or the waters of rivers, although its course towards a given point should
thus be three times as long. It is the only one that, in as far as I have
observed in America, alights on trees. My learned friend, the Prince of
MUSIGNANO, mentions in his valuable Synopsis of the Birds of the United States,
a species of Cormorant under the name of P. Graculus, which he describes as
being when adult greenish-black, with a few scattered white streaks on the neck,
in winter bronzed, and having a golden-green crest, the head, neck, and thighs
with short small white feathers, and adds that it "inhabits both continents and
both hemispheres: not uncommon in spring and autumn in the Middle States: very
common in the Floridas, where it breeds, though very abundant in the arctic and
antarctic circles." Unfortunately no dimensions are given, except of the bill,
which is said to be three and a half inches long. The Florida Cormorant,
however, does not at any season present these characters, and therefore
conceiving it to be different from any hitherto described, I have taken the
liberty of giving it a name, while the figure and description will enable the
scientific to form a distinct idea of it, and thus to confirm the species, or
restore to it its previous appellation, should it have received one.
On the 26th of April, 1832, I and my party visited several small Keys, not
many miles distant from the harbour in which our vessel lay. Mr. THRUSTON had
given us his beautiful barge, and accompanied us with his famous pilot,
fisherman and hunter, Mr. EGAN. The Keys were separated by narrow and tortuous
channels, from the surface of the clear waters of which were reflected the dark
mangroves, on the branches of which large colonies of Cormorants had already
built their nests, and were sitting on their eggs. There were many thousands of
these birds, and each tree bore a greater or less number of their nests, some
five or six, others perhaps as many as ten. The leaves, branches, and stems of
the trees, were in a manner white-washed with their clung. The temperature in
the shade was about 90 degrees Fahr., and the effluvia which impregnated the air
of the channels was extremely disagreeable. Still the mangroves were in full
bloom, and the Cormorants in perfect vigour. Our boat being secured, the people
scrambled through the bushes, in search of the eggs. Many of the birds dropped
into the water, dived, and came up at a safe distance; others in large groups
flew away affrighted; while a great number stood on their nests and the
branches, as if gazing upon beings strange to them. But alas! they soon became
too well acquainted with us, for the discharges from our guns committed
frightful havoc among them. The dead were seen floating on the water, the
crippled making towards the open sea, which here extended to the very Keys on
which we were, while groups of a hundred or more swam about a little beyond
reach of our shot, awaiting the event, and the air was filled with those whose
anxiety to return to their eggs kept them hovering over us in silence. In a
short time the bottom of our boat was covered with the slain, several hats and
caps were filled with eggs; and we may now intermit the work of destruction.
You must try to excuse these murders, which in truth might not have been nearly
so numerous, had I not thought of you quite as often while on the Florida Keys,
with a burning sun over my head, and my body oozing at every pore, as I do now
while peaceably scratching my paper with an iron-pen, in one of the comfortable
and quite cool houses of the most beautiful of all the cities of old Scotland.
The Florida Cormorant begins to pair about the first of April, and
commences the construction of its nest about a fortnight after. Many do not lay
quite so early, and I found some going through their preparations until the
middle of May. Their courtships are performed on the water. On the morning,
beautiful but extremely hot, of the 8th of that month, while rambling over one
of the Keys, I arrived at the entrance of a narrow and rather deep channel,
almost covered over by the boughs of the mangroves and some tall canes, the only
tall canes I had hitherto observed among those islands. I paused, looked at the
water, and observing it to be full of fish, felt confident that no shark was at
hand. Cocking both locks of my gun, I quietly waded in. Curious sounds now
reached my ears, and as the fishes did not appear to mind me much, I proceeded
onward among them for perhaps a hundred yards, when I observed that they had all
disappeared. The sounds were loud and constantly renewed, as if they came from
a joyous multitude. The inlet suddenly became quite narrow, and the water
reached to my arm-pits. At length I placed myself behind some mangrove trunks,
whence I could see a great number of Cormorants not more than fifteen or twenty
yards from me. None of them, it seemed, had seen or heard me; they were engaged
in going through their nuptial ceremonies. The males while swimming gracefully
around the females, would raise their wings and tail, draw their head over their
back, swell out their neck for an instant, and with a quick forward thrust of
the head utter a rough guttural note, not unlike the cry of a pig. The female
at this moment would crouch as it were on the water, sinking into it, when her
mate would sink over her until nothing more than his head was to be seen, and
soon afterwards both sprung up and swam joyously around each other, croaking all
the while. Twenty or more pairs at a time were thus engaged. Indeed, the water
was covered with Cormorants, and, had I chosen, I might have shot several of
them. I now advanced slowly towards them, when they stared at me as you might
stare at a goblin, and began to splash the water with their wings, many diving.
On my proceeding they all dispersed, either plunging beneath or flying off, and
making rapidly towards the mouth of the inlet. Only a few nests were on the
mangroves, and I looked upon the spot as analogous to the tournament grounds of
the Pinnated Grouse, although no battles took place in my presence. A few
beautiful Herons were sitting peaceably on their nests, the musquitoes were very
abundant, large ugly blue land-crabs crawled among the mangroves, hurrying
towards their retreats, and I retired, as I had arrived, in perfect silence.
While proceeding I could not help remarking the instinctive knowledge of the
fishes, and thought how curious it was that, as soon as they had observed the
Cormorants' hole, none had gone farther, as if they were well aware of the
danger, but preferred meeting me as I advanced towards the birds. The nest of
the Florida Cormorant is of rather a small size, being only eight or nine inches
in diameter. It is formed of sticks crossing each other, and is flat, without
any appearance of finishing. All the nests are placed on a western exposure,
and are usually completely covered with excrement, as are also frequently the
eggs, which are three or four, and differ in size, their average length,
however, being two inches and a quarter, their greatest breadth one inch and
three and a half eighths. They are rendered rather rough by the coating of
calcareous matter which surrounds them; but when this is removed, the real shell
is found to be of a uniform fine light bluish-green tint. I was unable to
ascertain the period of incubation. The young are at first blind, naked, black,
and extremely uncouth. On placing some which were quite small on the water,
they instantly dived, rose again, and swam about at random, diving on the least
noise. If you approach them when about a month old, they throw themselves from
the nest and plunge into the water. When undisturbed, they remain in the nest
until they are fully fledged and able to fly, after which they undergo various
changes, and are not perfect until nearly two years old.
Soon after they are left to shift for themselves, great numbers go to
search for food in the quiet waters of inland streams. Thousands may now be
seen on the lakes of the interior of the Floridas, and on the large rivers
there. At this season many proceed as far as the Capes of North Carolina, the
Mississippi, the Arkansas, the Yazoo, and other streams, including the fair
Ohio, on which they are at times seen early in October, when they begin to
return to the places of their nativity. During several weeks which I spent on
the St. John's river, while on board the United States' schooner-of-war Spark, I
was surprised to see the number of these Cormorants already returning towards
the keys, so much so that had I been the discoverer of that stream under similar
circumstances, I should in all probability have named it Cormorant river. While
we were at anchor near its mouth, they passed close to us in long single files
almost continually, and, on reaching the sea, bore away towards the south along
the shores.
On the Mississippi, in the month of October, when the temperature is
considerably lower than in the Floridas, you see these birds during the day
standing in their usual inclined position, on the sawyers and planters, as if
resting there--so at least was the case in the autumn of 1820,--or on the dead
branches of trees along the shores. In cloudy days they sailed high in the air,
and in wide circles, after which, if aware of cold weather being at hand, they
swiftly followed in long lines the meandering course of the stream, at a
considerable elevation. While sailing aloft, they frequently uttered a note not
unlike that of the Raven in similar circumstances. When approached while
standing on a planter, instead of taking to wing at once, although elevated
several feet above the water, they prefer plunging first into the stream, when
they almost instantly rise to the surface, paddle with their feet, and beat with
their wings for twenty or thirty yards, and then rise into the air. Now and
then, when of a sudden the weather becomes cold at night, you see them at early
dawn join in numbers of fifty or perhaps a hundred, rise high in the air,
arrange themselves in angular double files, and fly swiftly southward.
When in fresh water streams they fish principally in the eddies, and as
soon as one of them is depopulated, or proves unworthy of their farther search,
they rise and fly about a foot above the surface to another place, where they
continue to fish. In the inner lakes of the Floridas they fish at random any
where, and this is equally the case around the Keys, and on the bays and inlets
along the coast. In fine calm weather, when the sun is pouring down a flood of
light and heat, the Cormorants in flocks betake themselves to some clean
sand-bar or rocky isle, or alight on trees, where they spread out their wings,
and bask at times for hours, in the manner of Vultures and Pelicans.
The Florida Cormorant, like all the other species with which I am
acquainted, swims deep, and dives with great expertness, so that it is almost
useless to follow one when wounded, unless it has been greatly injured. On
seeing an enemy approach, it first beats the water with its wings, as if in
play, or as it would do if washing itself, raises both wings for a minute or
more, then paddles off, and takes to wing. When on a lake, they prefer diving
to flying, swim with all but the neck and head under water, in the manner of the
Anhinga or Snake-bird, and easily dive without shewing their backs.
They procure their food entirely by diving from the surface of the water,
never from on wing, as some compilers assert; nay, the very form of their bill,
and the want of air-cells, such as plunging birds are usually provided with,
prevent them from darting from above into the water, as is the habit of Gannets
and other birds, which seek for food on wing, go far out to sea, and stand gales
such as the Cormorant, which rarely ventures out of sight of the shores, does
not dare to encounter, or of those which, like Gulls, pass swiftly in curved
lines over the surface, picking up their prey. On emerging, these Cormorants
usually swallow their prey if it has been so seized as to enable them to do so
with ease; if not, they throw it up to a short distance in the air, receive it
with open bill, and gulp it head foremost. If the fish is large, they swim or
fly to the shore, or alight on a tree with it, and there beat and tear it to
pieces, after which they swallow it. Their appetite is scarcely satiable, and
they gorge themselves to the utmost at every convenient opportunity.
The flight of this species is perhaps more rapid than that of the others,
and is performed by continued flappings when the bird is travelling, but by
alternate flappings and sailings of great elegance during the beginning of the
breeding season, or when they collect in large flocks in lowering weather,
sometimes also when about to alight. Their food consists chiefly of fish, and
they generally prefer those of small size. While on the Florida Keys, I
procured five specimens of the Hippocampus, fresh and uninjured, from the
gullets of some of these Cormorants. They are hard to kill, and live to a great
age.
They are easily treated in captivity; but their awkward movements on the
ground, where they often use the tail as a support, render them less pleasing
objects than other feathered pets. Besides, they eat and mute inordinately, and
instead of charming you with songs, utter no sound excepting a grunt. Their
flesh is dark, generally tough, and has a rank fishy taste. The Indians and
Negroes of the Floridas kill the young when nearly able to fly, and after
skinning them, salt them for food. I have seen them offered for sale in the New
Orleans market, the poorer people there making gombo soup of them.
A bird of this species, which I shot near its breeding place, and which, on
being examined, proved to be a female, had the feathers of the tail covered with
delicate slender sea-weeds of a bright green colour, such as I have often
observed on marine turtles, and which appeared to have actually grown there.
The slender feathers on the sides of the head fall off by the time
incubation has commenced, and do not appear during winter, as is alleged by
authors when speaking of the crests or appendages of Cormorants, nor do they
last more than a few weeks, as is also the case in the Egrets and Herons.
PHALACROCORAX FLORIDANUS, Florida Cormorant, Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. iii.p. 387; vol. v. p. 632.
Male, 29 1/4, 46 1/2
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.
Adult Male in spring.
Bill about the length of the head, rather slender, somewhat compressed,
straight, with the tip curved. Upper mandible with the dorsal line slightly
concave, until near the tip, when it is decurved, the ridge convex, and
separated from the sides by a narrow groove, the sides erect, convex, the edges
sharp and straight as far as the unguis, which is strong, convex above,
incurved, acute. No external nostrils when full-grown. Lower mandible with the
angle long and very narrow towards the end, filled by an extensible membrane,
which extends a short way down the throat, its dorsal line a little convex, the
sides erect and convex, the edges sharp and inflected, the tip compressed and
obliquely truncate.
Head rather small, oblong, narrowed before. Neck long and slender. Body
rather full, depressed. Feet short, stout, placed far behind; tibia feathered
in its whole length; tarsus very short, strong, much compressed, covered all
round with scales, of which the anterior and lateral are large and
sub-hexagonal, the posterior very small and roundish. Toes all placed in the
same plane, and connected by reticulated webs, covered above with very numerous
oblique scutella; first toe smallest, fourth longest. Claws rather small,
strong, compressed, acute, rounded above, arched, that of the third toe
pectinated on its inner edge.
Plumage of the head, neck, lower parts, and posterior portion of the back
glossy, blended, and silky, of the fore part of the back and wings compact, the
feathers with narrow loose glossy margins. From behind the eye to the length of
an inch and a half on each side, a line of extremely slender loose elongated
feathers. Space around the eye, and to a large extent along the base of the
bill, together with the small gular sac, bare. Wings rather small; primaries
very strong, curved, rather narrow, tapering and obtuse, second longest, third
almost equal, first longer than fourth; secondaries decurved, broad, broadly
rounded, the inner narrower. Tail of moderate length, very narrow, much
rounded, or cuneate, of twelve narrow rounded feathers, having extremely strong
shafts.
Upper mandible black, along the basal margins bright blue; lower bright
blue, curiously spotted with white. Iris light green, margins of eyelids light
blue, spotted with white. Bare space on the head and gular sac rich orange.
Feet and claws greyish-black. All the silky part of the plumage is
greenish-black, at a distance appearing black, but at hand in a strong light
green. The imbricated feathers of 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. The shafts of all the feathers brownish-black.
Length to end of tail 29 3/4 inches, to end of wings 25 1/2, to end of
claws 28 1/2; extent of wings 46 1/2; wing from flexure 11 3/4; tail 6; bill
along the back 2 5/12 along the edge of lower mandible 3 7/12; tarsus 2; outer
toe 3 5/12, its claw (4 1/2)/12. Weight 3 1/2 lbs.
The Female is precisely similar to the male.
The young, after their first moult, have the bill dull yellow, the ridge of
the upper mandible dusky, the unguis or hook horn-colour; the naked parts about
the base of the bill rich yellow, the iris light green, the feet as in the
adult. The feathers of the head and neck are blended, but not silky; the upper
part of the head and the hind neck are brownish-black, tinged with green, the
throat greyish-white, the fore neck and anterior part of the breast variegated
with pale brownish-grey and black. The rest of the plumage is as in the adult,
but the imbricated feathers of the upper parts of a lighter colour, but not
bronzed.