XIII 



SNAKE-BIBD; DABTEB; WATER TUEKEY; ANHINGA 

 118. Anhinga anhinga (Linn.) 



This bird is a native of the tropics and semi-tropics 

 of most countries of the earth. Having once seen it in 

 the water, with its small head and waving neck, one can 

 easily understand why it is often called " Snake-bird." 

 Then, when the same bird is perched awkwardly in the 

 top of a dead tree or on the high limbs of a tall cypress, 

 its fan-shaped tail, ladder-bar black markings and wings 

 with black and white bars, make its resemblance to a 

 Wild Turkey truly striking; hence the name, " Water 

 Turkey." Its torpedo-shaped body and the wonderful 

 webbing of its front and back toes make the Anhinga one 

 of the fastest diving birds. It is said to pursue and 

 capture fish under the water by its rapid swimming, using 

 its wings to increase its speed, but of the truth of this 

 statement I am in doubt, as the bird's wings are large 

 and not shaped for use under water. However, a fish 

 once within the grasp of its long, sharp, backward, ser- 

 rated, teeth-like bill has indeed very little chance of 

 escape. 



Of all birds with which I am acquainted this one 

 presents the most varied coloring. Joseph of old, with 

 his coat of many colors, had nothing on the Anhinga, 

 with its mane of black feathers and side plumes of purple 

 and whitish-brown; its breast of fawn-color with a rich 

 chestnut border, and its back feathers of brown with 

 edges and centers of black; its neck of grayish-brown 

 to reddish, iris red, its bill yellow with green edges, the 

 bare skin about its eyes livid green, its nucal sac yellow 

 and its feet olive or yellow with black claws. 



The parental instinct is very strong in these big 

 birds while incubating and rearing their offspring. The 

 young require much protection from the cold rains at 

 night and from the mid-day heat of the burning tropical 

 sun. The female is often seen standing over the nest 



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