BLACK-BELLIED DARTER. 



(Plotus anhinga, Linn. Lath. Ind. p. 895. sp, 1. Bonap. Synops. 

 No. 362. Plotus melanogaster, Wilson, ix. p. 79. pi. 74. fig. 1. 

 [adult.] and p. 82. pi. 74. fig. 2. [young.] P. melanogaster, Vieill. 

 Gal. des Ois. pi. 278. [bad.] Buff. PI. Enlum. 960. and 959. 

 [young.] Colymbus colubrinus, (Snake Bird), Bartram's Travels, 

 p. 132. and 295. Phil. Museum, No. 3188. [male.] and 3189. 

 [female] .) 



Sp. Charact. — Black, varied with hoary : scapulars short, lanceo- 

 late ; naked space on the throat extensive and black. — Adult, with 

 the belly black. Summer plumage, with long slender black feath- 



* ers on the nape. In the yoiing the neck and beneath is whitish, 

 tinged with pale rufous. 



The Snake-Bird, or Black-Bellied Darter, is an exclusive 

 inhabitant of the warmer parts of the Union, being found 

 on the banks of retired, still, and shady rivers in low and 

 swampy districts in both Carolinas as far as Cape Fear river 

 to the north; in Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, and the 



