THK I)I,A(K-BEI.1.IHI) UARTEK. 62-5 



and stretched out, and forms witli the tail a straight horizontal lino ; its long tail, 

 composed of strong and elastic feathers, serves as a rudder when swimming submerged 

 in pursuit of fishes, upon which it principally feeds. When the darter seizes a small fish, 

 it swallows it entire ; but if it be too large, it carries it to a rock or the trunli of a tree, 

 and tixing it beneath one of its feet, it cuts it up by strokes of its beak. It establishes 

 its nest on trees or rocks in the vicinity of waters. It is excessively wild in its disposition, 



and dithcult to be approached, especially while swimming It is incessantly diving, 



and re-appears at a great distance." 



THE liLACK- BELLIED DARTEU.* 



This bird is the size of a duck, measuring two feet ten inches in length. It inhabits 

 the iloridas, Brazil, and other parts of South America. It subsists chiefly on fish, 

 which it catches by darting its head forwards. When at rest, it perches on a tree, with 

 its long serpentine neck drawn in between the shoulders. It is scarcely ever seen on the 

 ground. 



The Darter associates in small j^arties, frequently reposing on withered branches that 

 impend over streams, expanding their wings and tail, as if for the purpose of cooling 

 themselves and looking at their image iii the water. If approached when in this atti- 

 tude, they tumble into the water as if dead, and remain submerged for a minute or two, 

 when, at a considerable distance, thej- thrust up their head and neck, the body still con- 

 tinuing under water. During the heat of the day, they may be seen in great numbers, 

 high in the air, and directly above lakes or rivers. They make their nests of sticks 

 on trees. Their skin is very thick. Their flesh, though fat, is dark-coloured and of a 

 disagreeable, oily flavour. 



The Black-bellied Darter is well described by Mr. Ord in Wilson's " American Orni- 

 thology," from which admirable work we shall make a few extracts : — " The Snake Bird 

 is an inhabitant of the Carolinas, Georgia, the Floridas, and Louisiana, and is common 

 in Brazil and Ca3'enne. It seems to have derived its name from the singular form of its 

 head and neck, which, at a distance, might be mistaken for a serpent. In those countries 

 where noxious animals abound, we may readily conceive that the apjjearance of this bird, 

 extending its slender neck through the foliage of a tree, would tend to startle the wary 

 traveller, whose imagination had portrayed objects of danger lurking in every thicket. 

 Its habits, too, while in the water, have not a little contributed to its name. It generally 

 swims with its body immerged, especiallj* when apprehensive of danger, its long neck 

 extended above the surface, and vibrating in a peculiar manner. The first individual 

 that I saw in Florida was sneaking away, to avoid me, along the shore of a reedy marsh 

 which was lined with alligators, and the flrst impression on my mind was that I beheld 

 a snake ; but the recollection of the habits of the bird soon undeceived me. To pursue 

 these birds at such times is useless, as they cannot be induced to rise, or even expose 

 their bodies. 



" Wherever the limbs of a tree project over and dip into the water, there the darters 

 are sure to be found ; these situations being convenient resting-places for the pm-pose of 

 sunning and preening themselves, and probably giving them a better opiportunitj' of 

 obser\nng theii- finny prej". They crawl from the water upon the limbs, and fix 

 themselves in an upright position, which they maintain in the utmost silence. If there 

 be foliage or the long moss, they secrete themselves in it in such a manner that they 

 cannot be perceived unless one be close to them. When approached, they drop into the 



* Plotus Anhinga. — Linn. 



2s 



