156 PLOTIDZ. 
and Ferrari-Perez from Santa Ana in Vera Cruz®. It was, therefore, doubtless this 
bird, and not P. vigua, which was procured by Sallé at Jalapa?®. 
Both P. mexicanus and P. vigua were obtained by Salvin on the Lake of Peten, and 
we procured the former at Duefias and Chiapam ; here they rested in the trees or swam 
about in the muddy water. 
We have no record of its nesting within our limits, but it breeds in Texas, and may 
perhaps do so in Northern Mexico. 
Fam, PLOTIDA. 
In outward appearance the Darters bear considerable likeness to the Cormorants ; 
there are, however, many anatomical and external characters which distinguish this 
extraordinary family. Mr. Pycraft has pointed out some of the osteological features, 
the most curious of these being the ‘“ kink” in the neck, the muscles of which can be 
suddenly relaxed like a spring, enabling the bird to dart forward its head and seize 
its prey. The bill is a formidable weapon, being sharply pointed and armed with 
back-set serrations, so that the escape of a fish when once transfixed is impossible, and 
many ugly wounds have been inflicted on those who have attempted to capture disabled 
birds. Another remarkable feature is the transverse rib on the inner secondaries 
and on the middle tail-feathers. The claw of the middle toe is pectinate, 7. é. has a 
comb-like process attached to it. 
PLOTUS. 
Anhinga, Briss. Orn, vi. p. 476 (1760). 
Plotus, Linn, Syst. Nat. 1. p. 218 (1766). 
The generic name Plotus was established by Linneus in 1766; under the Strick- 
landian Code, which is followed by the majority of British zoologists, the earlier 
appellation of Anhinga of Brisson is untenable. The characters of the family are 
those of its single genus, Plotus. 
1. Plotus anhinga. 
L? Anhinga, Briss. Orn. vi. p. 476°. 
Plotus anhinga, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 218°; Scl. P.Z.S. 1857, p. 207°; 1859, p. 369‘; Moore, 
P. Z.S. 1859, p. 65°; Scl. & Salv. Ibis, 1859, p. 233°; Taylor, Ibis, 1860, p. 3167; Cass. 
Pr. Philad. Acad. 1860, p. 197°; Frantz. J. f. Orn. 1869, p. 379°; Dugés, La Nat. i. 
p- 142”; Salv. P. Z.S. 1870, p. 219"; Finsch, Abh. naturw. Ver. Bremen, 1870, 
p- 862"; Lawr. Mem. Bost. Soc. N. H. i. p. 317"; Bull. U. 8S. Nat. Mus. no. 4, p. 50"; 
Sumichr. La Nat. v. p. 284°; Nutting, Pr. U.S. Nat. Mus. v. p. 405*°; vi. p. 378"; 
Salvin, Ibis, 1889, p. 876°; Ogilvie Grant, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxvi. p. 419”. 
