60 



North American Birds Eggs. 



DARTERS. Family ANHINGIDAE. 



f^ 



118. Anhinga. AnliiiKja aithimid. 



Range. — Tropical America, north to the South Atlantic States and up the 

 Mississippi Valley to Illinois. 



Anhingas or Snake Birds are curiously formed creatures with a Heron-like 

 head and neck, anil the body of a Cormorant. They live in colonies in 



inaccessible swamps. Owing to 



"^^^. 



their thin and light bodies, they are 

 remarkable swimmers, and pursue and 

 catch fish under water with ease. 

 When alarmed they have a habit of 

 sinking their body below water, leaving- 

 only their head and neck visible, 

 thereby having the appearance of a 

 water snake. They also fly well and 

 dive from their perch into the water 

 with the greatest celerity. 



They nest in colonies in the swamps,, 

 placing their nests of sticks, leaves and 

 moss in the bushes over the water. They breed in April laying from three 

 to five bluish eggs, covered with a chalky deposit. Size :2.25 x 1.85. Data.— 

 Gainesville, Florida, May 18, 1894. Nest in the top of a button-wood tree,. 

 made of leaves and branches, overhanging the water. Collector, Geo, Graham.. 



[Chalky hluish white.] 



CORMORANTS. Family PHALACROCORACIDAE. 



Cormorants have a more bulky body than do the Anhingas; their tail is 

 shorter and the bill strongly hooked at the tip. Cormorants are found in 

 nearly all quarters of the globe. They are very gregarious and most species 

 are maritime. They feed upon fish which they catch by pursuing under water.. 

 Most of the Cormorants have green eyes. 



119. Cormorant, f'hdlacrocor'i.r cnrho. 



Range. — The Atlantic coast breeding from Maine to Greenland. 



The common Cormorant or Shag is one of the largest of the race, having a 

 length of 8(5 inches. 



In the breeding plumage, the black head and neck are so thickly covered 

 with slender white plumes as to almost wholly obscure the black. There is also 

 a large white patch on the flanks. They nest in colonies on the rocky shores of 

 Newfoundland and Labrador, placing their nests of sticks and seaweed 



