298 THE ADVENTURES OF A YOUNG NATURALIST. 



web-footed birds that can be found anywhere. Repre- 

 sent to yourself an enormous duck with a neck like a swan, 

 a bill straight, tapering, and longer than the head, webbed 

 feet, and widely spreading and well-feathered wings, and 

 then know the anhinga. It dives and flies with equal fa- 

 cility, can swim under the water and perch upon trees, the 

 highest of which it chooses for building its nest upon. 



The flesh of the anhinga is not valuable, as it is hard and 

 tough. Perhaps a good appetite rendered me indulgent, 

 but I found the flavor very much like that of duck. The 

 fat of this bird, carefully saved, was used for frying our fish. 

 The latter, I must confess, did not seem to us so nice as the 

 dark-colored meat of the anhinga. If it tasted rather fishy, 

 the fish themselves tasted muddy ; on the whole, however, 

 our bill-of-fare was a tolerable one. 



When night-fall came on, the trees stood out in bold re- 

 lief against the transparent sky, and 1'Encuerado, delighted 

 at thinking that he was now unbewitched, gratified us with 

 one of his unpublished canticles, which materially helped to 

 send us to sleep. 



