312 



KEY AND DESCRIPTIOX 



with white, and the rounded tail is tipped with whitish. The 

 female is similar but has the head, neck, and breast brownish. 

 A common Inrd in the swamps of the Gulf States. (Snake-bird; 

 AVater Turkey.) 



Length, .34 ; wing, 14 ; tail, 11 ; tarsus, \\ ; cuhnen, 3J. Tropical and 

 subtropical America, north to North Carolina and Kansas. 



FAMILY LV. GANNETS (SCLID^) 



A small family (8 species) of large, heavy, sea-birds, which, 

 except when migrating, are never found far from land. In 

 their movements through the air they alternate their flapping 

 with short periods of sailing. They are large-bodied birds, 



but have such exten- 

 "^ sive air cavities under 

 the skin as to render 

 them very light on 

 the water; thus they 

 j swim with great ease. 

 i Associated in small 

 flocks, these birds fly 

 with outstretched 

 jdtt neck, usually at some 

 '^^^1 height above the 

 ^ JPB| waves, and, Avhen a 

 ^^HBW fisli is seen, close the 

 L I wings and shoot down- 



V I ward like an arrow 

 ' to secure the prey. 



^ 1. Booby (115. /S^r/a 



^ — " ' shla). — A dark brown 



gannet, with white 

 breast and belly. The head and neck are sometimes streaked 

 with lighter brown and the breast is tinted with darker brown. 

 The young lias even the lower parts brownish, though not so 

 dark as the back. An inhabitant of barren shores. 



^ 



