50 Andrew Fackson Grayson. [ZOE 
to escape by, flight, for it is then too heavy. but falls headlong into 
the water and instantly disappears as though a stone had fallen into 
its depths. It rises with great difficulty from the water when it does 
make the attempt. The plumage of its pinions as well as the tail 
are naturally heavy and ridged, and the body itself is very solid 
and weighty for its size, which would at first lead one to suppose it 
incapable of extended flight, but this is not the case, for its wings 
are long and ample and its flight vigorous and well sustained. 
After it has dried its plumage in the sun, it is then that it displays 
its powers on the wing. Its flight is exceedingly rapid and really 
graceful and at times long protracted—ascending to a great height 
in circles, frequently in company with the common black vulture, 
or the wood ibis, and like them sailing in wide circles, seldom mov- 
ing its wings, at the same time constantly rising in the air until al- 
most lost to vision. After it has enjoyed for a time the cooler air 
above, it folds its wings near its body and darts like a meteor back 
to its favorite lake or stream, there to exercise its superior powers 
in a different element. 
Doubtless some of my readers when looking at the picture in 
which the bird is figured will be reminded of some such scene he 
has witnessed if he has ever traveled along the thickly wooded 
banks of the silent streams or lagoons within the regions of the 
tropics. And the bird, too, he will remember, asit sat perched upon - 
some dry branch overhanging the water, with wings partly spread 
to the sun whilst its long snake-like neck presented the many ex- 
centric and graceful curves peculiar to the species ; its hoarse 
croaking voice, too, as he neared its resting place—all of which may 
recall to his memory the dismal swamps and quiet streams through 
which he has passed. Such scenes are familiar to me from my boy-_ 
hood to the present time. The same which I have often in my 
younger days witnessed in the cypress swamps of Louisiana are 
only replaced in western Mexico by swamps of the mangrove and 
other tropical trees. Such places are the favorite haunts of the 
‘“ snake-bird.” 
The nest is usually placed in very tall trees overhanging the water 
and is composed of sticks and water plants. In the month of May, 
1866, I found them building in some large cedar trees over a small 
sluggish stream that runs through the valley of Tepic. They were 
quite numerous about this little river which abounded in several 
