PLOTIN.E. 441 



Bill dusky above, yellowish on the sides ; irides yellow ; legs 

 black. 



Forehead, nape, and neck, mottled brown, each feather being 

 dark-brown with a pale edging, the median line of the head, 

 nape, and hind neck being darker than the rest, and the median 

 line below paler ; a minute white line from the base of the bill 

 over the eye ; the cheeks, chin, and throat, white, continued in a 

 line from below the eye down the side of the neck for nearly 

 half its length, and gradually overcome on the sides of the fore- 

 neck by the brown feathers which run along the sides of the 

 neck, and form a narrow line passing up through the white to the 

 gape ; upper back gradually changing from the brown of the 

 hind-neck into the brownish-black of the rest of the dorsal 

 region, and on the sides spotted with white, the spots commenc- 

 ing at first as small oval drops, and gradually increasing in size 

 and shape to the scapulars, which are long and lanceolate, and 

 deep black with the central portion silvery-white ; wing-coverts 

 black, spotted with silvery- white ; tertiaries and the last secon- 

 daries also with a silvery streak on their outer webs ; quills and 

 tail deep raven black ; the feathers of the tail with a barred 

 appearance on their outer webs, caused by a series of transverse 

 elevated ridges which are gradually lost on the outermost 

 feathers ; lower portion of the neck, breast, and all the lower 

 parts, glossy brownish-black. 



The female has the head and neck"pale whity-brown, lightest 

 on the lower sides, and albescent on the chin, face, and throat, 

 and a fulvous patch on the sides of the neck, continued from the 

 paler median line of the lower side of the neck and extending to 

 the shoulder ; back browner than in the male, becoming black 

 on the rump ; wing-coverts more or less brown ; otherwise as 

 in the male. 



The young birds are colored somewhat as the female, and the 

 nestlings have white down, with the wings and tail blackish. 



The Snake Bird is very common throughout the district. 



It is a permanent resident breeding from the commencement 

 until long after the rains. They construct a flat stick nest on 

 'some tree, growing well into the water. The eggs, four in num- 

 ber, are elongated ovals, pointed more or less at one end, with a 

 whitish or greenish- white chalky covering, which is easily removed 

 by scraping. The real shell is of a greenish-blue color. They 

 measure 2' 13 inches in length by about 1'37 in breadth. 



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