WATER BIRDS. 



Black Skimmer. 



Black-bellied Darter. 



I 



'Hie Black-bellied Darter inhabits exclusively our far southern states, as also Mexico, Cayenne, and 

 Brazil It is a sinister-looking bird, having a long, dark, vibrating neck, so resembling a serpent, that one 

 of its names is the "Snake-bird." It is a diver, and lives upon the produce of the waters. It lays 

 eight or more eggs of a sky-blue color. Its flesh is unpalatable food. 



The Loon inhabits the cold and temperate regions of the northern hemisphere of both countries. Their 

 breeding grounds are far north. Their eggs are about the size of a goose's, and in color of a dark, smoky- 

 olive. They shed their feathers after breeding, and become so bare, as to be incapable of rising from the 

 water. Their flesh is dark, tough, and unpalatable, and yet the young are sometimes eaten. 



The Goosander inhabits the remotest north of either continent, and is almost the last of its tribe to 

 migrate southward. It is a voracious, gluttonous bird, and sometimes gorges a fish so large, that it remains 

 in the oesophagus until the lower part being digested, gives room for the remainder to follow. In winter 

 they go south, as far as the extremities of the United States. They lay twelve or fourteen whitish eggs, in 

 hollow i roes, or under bushes and grass. 



The Black Skimmer inhabits the warmer parts of the United States, from New Jersey to Florida, and 

 is found also in Guiana, Cayenne, and Surinam. Their nests have been found along the shores of Cape 

 May, about the beginning of June, and consist of a mere hollow scratched out in the sand, without the 

 addition of any extraneous materials. The eggs are usually three in number, and nearly pure white, 

 marked almost all over with large umber-brown blotches and dashes of two shades, and other faint ones 

 appearing beneath the surface. The female only sits on her nest during the night, or in wet and stormy 

 weather ; but ,the young remain for several weeks before they acquire the full use of their wings, and are 

 during that period assiduously fed by both parents. 



The Loon. 



The Goosander. 



