208 BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



HAB. Tropical and subtropical America; Gulf States and lower Mississippi Valley, 

 north to southern Illinois. Kansas, etc. 



SP. CHAE. Adult male in full breeding plumage: Plumage of the neck and body 

 deep glossy black, with a faint greenish gloss; scapulars and lesser wing-coverts marked 

 centrally (longitudinally) with light hoary ash, these markings elliptical on the upper part 

 of the scapularjegion, linear or nearly acicular on the longer scapulars, and broadly ovate 

 on the wing coverts: exposed surface of the middle and greater wing-coverts light hoary 

 ash; remainder of the wings, with the tail, deep black, the latter less glossy, and broadly 

 tipped with pale brown, passing into dirty whitish terminally. Sides of the occiput and 

 neck ornamented by lengthened, loose- webbed, hair-like feathers of a dirty white or pale 

 grayish lilac ; nuchal feathers elongated, hair-like, forming a sort of loose mane. "Upper 

 mandible dusky-olive, the edges yellow; lower mandib'e bright yellow, the edges and tip 

 greenish; bare space about the eye bluish green; gular sac bright orange; iris bright car- 

 mine; tarsi and toes anteriorly dusky-olive, the hind parts and webs yellow, claws brown- 

 jsh black" (AUDUBON). Adult male in winter: Similar to the above, but destitute of the 

 whitish feathers of the head and neck. Adult female in full breeding plumage: Head, 

 neck, and breast grayish buff, becoming grayish brown (sometimes quite dusky) on the 

 pileum and nape, the breast lighter, and bounded below by a narrow band of dark chestnut, 

 bordering the upper edge of the black abdomen; sides of the upper part of the neck 

 adorned with an inconspicuous longitudinal stripe of short white loose-webbed feathers. 

 Best of the plumage as in the male. Bill, etc., colored much as in the male, but iris paler 

 red (pinkish). Young in first winter: Similar to the adult female, but lower parts duller 

 black (the feathers usually indistinctly tipped with grayish brown), the chestnut pectoral 

 band entirely absent; upper parts much duller black (the back decidedly brownish), the 

 light markings much smaller and more indistinct. Young first plumage: Similar to the 

 above, but entire lower parts light grayish buff, darker posteriorly. Transverse corruga- 

 tions of the middle rectrices quite obsolete. Nestling: Covered with uniform buff-colored 

 down. 



Total length, about 32.50 to 36.00 inches; extent. 43.00 to 44.00; wing. 14.00; tail. 11.00; bill. 

 3.25; tarsus, 1.35. 



This remarkable bird, while resembling in general habits the 

 Cormorants, has marked peculiarities which enable the casual 

 observer to readily distinguish it. Like the Cormorant, it has 

 the habit of perching upon trees overhanging the water, and is 

 an expert diver, remaining long beneath the surface, and when 

 swimming usually showing but little of its body above the water. 

 i "Audubon never saw the Anhinga plunge or dive for its prey 

 from an eminence. It is more or less gregarious by habit, the 

 number seen together varying with the attractions of the local- 

 ity, and ranging from eight or ten to thirty, or even several 

 hundred. In the breeding season it moves in pairs. It is a 

 diurnal bird, and if unmolested, returns each night to the same 

 roosting place. When asleep it is said to stand with its body 

 almost erect. In rainy weather it often spends the greater part 

 of the day standing erect, with its neck and head stretched up- 

 ward, remaining perfectly motionless, so that the water may 

 glide off its plumage. The roosting place of the Anhinga is 

 generally over water, often in the midst of some stagnant pool. 



