Page:Natural History, Birds.djvu/332

Rh With the exception of the Phaetons, which have many of the characters of the Laridæ, the members of this Family have more or less naked skin about the face, and on the throat, which latter is dilatable: the tongue is very minute, and the nostrils are mere slits, scarcely or not at all perceptible; in the nestling bird, however, they are open. They all live on fishes, are almost exclusively marine, and nestle and roost either on rocks or on lofty trees: the eggs are encased with a soft, absorbent, chalky substance, laid over the hard shell; the young are at first covered with long and flossy blackish down; they remain long in the nest, and when they leave it, are generally equal, or superior to the adults in weight.

The Pelecanidæ are found in the seas and around the coasts of most parts of the globe: but the species are not numerous. The prevailing colours of their plumage are black, often glossed with metallic reflections, and white.

The Cormorants, to which genus belong two out of the three species of Pelecanidæ that inhabit the British coasts, are distinguished by having the beak long, straight, compressed, the upper mandible terminating in a powerful hook, the base connected with a membrane which extends to the throat, which, as well as the face, is naked. The legs are short, robust, and placed behind the middle of the body: the four toes connected, the hind-toe jointed on the inner side of the tarsus; the outer toe the longest; the claw of the middle toe comb-like on one edge. The wings