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DARTERS Family Anhingdae 

 ANHINGA; SNAKE BIRD 

 118. Anhinga anhinga. 35 in. 



Adult male with a glossy greenish-black head, neck 

 and underparts, the neck being covered behind, in breed- 

 ing season, with numerous filamentous, whitish plumes. 

 Female and young with neck and breast fawn color in 

 front. Eyes red, face greenish and gular pouch orange. 

 Middle tail feathers curiously crimped. These peculiar 

 birds spend their lives within the recesses of swamps, 

 the more dismal and impenetrable, the better. They 

 perch on limbs overhanging the water and dive after 

 fish, frogs, lizards, etc., that pass beneath, from which 

 they get one of their names, American Darter. They 

 swim with the body submerged, with only their serpent- 

 like head and neck visible; hence they are called Snake- 

 birds. 



Nest. Of sticks and leaves in bushes or trees over 

 water, large colonies of them nesting in the same swamp. 

 The 3 to 5 eggs are bluish, covered with a chalky de- 

 posit (2.25x1.35). 



Range. Breeds north to the Carolinas and 111. Win- 

 ters in Gulf States. 



