SNAKE-BIRD 881 
this respect, as well as in the attenuated neck, likening the Snake- 
birds to the Herons; but the latter do not generally transfix 
their prey as do the former, 
The male of the American species, which ranges from Illinois 
to the south of Brazil, is in full breeding-plumage a very beautiful 
bird, with crimson irides, the bare skin round the eyes apple-green 
and that of the chin orange, the head, neck and most part of the 
body clothed in black glossed with green ; but down each side of 
the neck runs a row of long hair-like white feathers, tinged with 
INDIAN SNAKE-BIRD. After Tickell’s drawing in the Zoological Society’s library. 
pale lilac. The much elongated scapulars and the small upper 
-wing-coverts bear each a median white mark, which on the former 
is a stripe pointed at either end, and on the latter a broad ovate 
patch.t The larger wing-coverts are dull white, but the quill- 
feathers of the wings and tail are black, the last broadly tipped 
with brownish-red, passing into greyish-white, and forming a con- 
spicuous band when the tail is spread in form of a fan, as it often 
is under water.?- The hen differs much in appearance from the 
1 These feathers are very characteristic of each species of the genus, and in 
India, says Jerdon, are among the Khasias a badge of royalty. = 
2 This peculiarity, first pointed out to me by Mr. Bartlett, who observed 
it in birds in the Zoological Society’s possession, doubtless suggested the name 
of ‘‘ Water-Turkey” by which in some places Plotus anhinga is said to be 
known, 
c6 
