THE BIRDS OF NORTHERN THAILAND 31 



plumage black, with silver-gray about the shoulders ; in nonbreeding 

 dress it has a white patch on the upper throat at the base of the bill. 

 Immature birds have the plumage brown, with the underparts largely 

 white. From the Chinese cormorant this form may be known by its 

 lesser size and by the fact that it is the only species likely to be found 

 on small ponds and streams. 



Family ANHINGIDAE 



ANHINGA RUFA MELANOGASTER Pennant 



Indian Darter 



Arihinga melanogaster Pennant, Indian zoology, 1769, pp. 13-14, pi. 12 (Ceylon 



and Java). 

 Plotus melanogaster, Gyxdenstolpe, Kungl. Svenska Vet.-Akad. Handl., 1916, p. 



133 (Nong Mae Rua, Mae Kok river) ; Ibis, 1920, p. 775 ("Throughout the 



whole country"). 

 Arihinga melanogaster, Deignan, Journ. Siam. Soc. Nat. Hist. Suppl., 1936, p. 



132 (Ban Tha Nong Luang). 



Although it has been recorded from but few localities, the darter 

 may be expected to occur in any of our provinces. Gyldenstolpe found 

 it very common at Mae Rua, a few miles southwest of Chiang Saen, 

 and saw it also along the Mae Kok and other rivers. I observed one 

 at Nong Luang, below Chom Thong, in December 1935, and collected 

 a female at Muang Ngop, on the upper Mae Nan, in April 1936. 



The darter lives at marshes edged by trees or along rivers with for- 

 ested banks ; at such places it may be found perched upon a snag or a 

 branch overhanging the water, often with its wings outspread in the 

 manner of a cormorant. It sometimes swims with the body sub- 

 merged and only the head and neck protruding from the water. In 

 flight it bears a marked resemblance to a cormorant but may always 

 be recognized by a peculiar kink near the middle of the neck. 



A specimen taken by Gyldenstolpe had the irides brownish yellow ; 

 the bill yellowish green, with the culmen horn; the feet brownish 

 yellow. 



The darter is similar to a cormorant but has a sharp, pointed bill 

 and a longer, more slender neck. Our species has the head and neck 

 light brown ; the chin and throat and a streak from the eye down the 

 side of the upper neck, white ; the body black, with the scapulars and 

 a conspicuous shoulder area silvery gray. The tail is comparatively 

 long and, in flight, is spread like a fan. 



