156 SUBKINGDOM VERTEBRATA. 



thrashing it till disabled. Its iris is bright green, and its 

 plumage well oiled and glossy. 



Fig. 



Crradtlus carbo, Cormorant. T J ,. 



Plotidae. The Snake-bird is 

 found throughout our Southern piotus anhinga, 



Coasts. It is adapted to Catching Snake Bird or Water Turkey. ,',. 



its prey under water, either by impaling upon its sharp, 

 pointed beak, or by seizing between its serrated mandibles. 

 Its favorite position is just above the water, into which it 

 drops head first, so quietly as to make scarcely a ripple, 

 Swimming beneath till it finds tufts of reeds, perhaps a 

 thousand feet away, it shows at the surface only its bill and 

 eyes, as it reconnoitres the neighborhood. The crimped tail- 

 feathers serve as a rudder, but the wings are not used in 



swimming.* 



ORDER LONGIPENNES. 



General Characteristics. The Long- winged birds are 

 distinguished by the size of their pointed wings and their 

 palmate feet, with free, elevated hind toe. * Generally 

 oceanic, they rest upon the water, but do not dive. 



LONGIPENNES. 



* Even before the young leave the nest a parasitic worm is found in their 

 stomach, which works its way to the hrain, and there thrives in clusters of ten or 



