SNAKE BIRD 



very long neck, very small head, long bill, 

 not hooked but tapering to a sharp point at 

 the tip, and the larger tail. They inhabit 

 swamps and rivers in the wooded regions and 

 are of solitary habits. Like the cormorants 

 they are expert swimmers and divers, and 

 often swim with the body submerged, the 

 head and neck then resembling that of a 

 serpent swimming; hence the name Snake 

 Bird. The few species are confined to tropi- 

 cal parts of the Old and New Worlds. 



i. Anhinga anhinga (Linnaeus) 

 Snake Bird. Water Turkey. ' 'Cuervo" 



Length 867mm. (34m.) ; tail 266mm. (io.5oin.). 



Male. Glossy greenish black with broad 



silver gray wing band, the lower hindneck 



FIG. 20. Anhinga anhinga 

 116 



