BIRD FISHERMEN 201 



neck. When fishing, the Anhinga stands with only- 

 its head and neck above the water ; when it makes a 

 plunge it remains a long while beneath the surface ; 

 and when it rises again, the long and undulating 

 neck has somewhat the appearance of a serpent. 

 ... It is said to be the very first among the fresh- 

 water divers, disappearing beneath the surface with 

 the quickness of thought, moving scarcely a ripple 

 on the spot, and reappearing, perhaps with its head 

 only above the water for a moment, at a place sev- 

 eral hundred yards distant." 



The ibises are wading and fishing birds closely 

 allied to the storks. The oldest known, and by far 

 the most interesting, is the sacred ibis, about which 

 cluster so much romance and mythology. It was 

 the "emblem of Shott, the scribe or secretary of 

 Osiris, whose duty it is to write down and recount 

 the deeds of the deceased." Many mummified 

 bodies of these birds are found among the ancient 

 tombs of Egypt, and numerous monuments bear 

 carvings and inscriptions to them. 



The American wood-ibis is renowned for its fish- 

 ing parties. These fishers form in groups of sev- 

 eral hundred to a thousand, and march like a troup 

 of soldiers until they come to a small lake. Then 

 they wade into the w ater, and stir up the mud with 

 their feet until all the fish rise to the surface, where 



