376 SNAKE-BIRD. 



preening themselves; and, probably, giving them a better op- 

 portunity, than when swimming, of observing their finny prey. 

 They crawl from the water upon the limbs, and fix themselves 

 in an upright position, which they maintain in the utmost silence. 

 If there be foliage, or the long moss, they secrete themselves 

 in it in such a manner that they cannot be perceived, unless 

 one be close to them. When approached, they drop into the 

 water with such surprising skill, that one is astonished how so 

 large a body can plunge with so little noise, the agitation of the 

 water being, apparently, not greater than that occasioned by 

 the gliding of an eel. 



Formerly the Darter was considered by voyagers as an ano- 

 malous production, a monster partaking of the nature of the 

 snake and the Duck; and in some ancient charts which 1 have 

 seen, it is delineated in all the extravagance of fiction. 



From Mr. William Bartram we have received the following 

 account of the subject of our history: 



" Here is in this river,"* and in the waters all over Florida, 

 a very curious and handsome bird, the people call them Snake- 

 birds; I think I have seen paintings of them on the Chinese 

 screens, and other Indian pictures; they seem to be a species of 

 Cotymbus, but far more beautiful and delicately formed than 

 any other that I have ever seen. They delight to sit in little 

 peaceable communities, on the dry limbs of trees, hanging over 

 the still waters, with their wings and tails expanded, I suppose 

 to cool and air themselves, when at the same time they behold 

 their images in the watery mirror. At such times when we ap- 

 proach them, they drop off the limbs into the water as if dead, 

 and for a minute or two are not to be seen; when on a sudden, 

 at a great distance, their long slender head and neck appear, 

 like a snake rising erect out of the water; and no other part of 

 them is to be seen when swimming, except sometimes the tip 

 end of their tail. In the heat of the day they are seen in great 

 numbers, sailing very high in the air, over lakes and rivers. 



* The river St. Juan, East Florida- 



