2 8o STEGANOPODOUS BIRDS. 



In China and Japan cormorants have been trained to fish for their masters 

 from time immemorial, and early in the seventeenth century this practice was 

 introduced into Europe as a sport, which was followed both in Holland, France, 

 and England. In the East the cormorants are taught to fish either from the bank 

 or from a raft, and although young or imperfectly trained birds wear a collar, to 

 which a cord may be attached, to prevent them swallowing their prey, in many 

 cases the fully trained birds are allowed to fish without any kind of restraint. 

 Till they receive permission to forage for themselves, they invariably bring all 

 their captures to their owner ; and it is said that when the bird has seized a fish 

 too large for it to carry unaided, another immediately comes to its assistance. In 

 captivity cormorants are readily tamed, and exhibit considerable intelligence and 

 attachment. Although generally considered highly unpalatable, their flesh is 

 relished by Arabs and Lapps. Not only on account of being the largest member of 

 the genus, but as having been exterminated comparatively soon after its discovery, 

 Pallas's cormorant (P. perspicillatus) claims a passing notice. The plumage both 

 above and below was a deep lustrous green, with a blue gloss on the neck, and 

 purplish reflections on the scapulars. Long straw-coloured feathers were 

 interspersed on the neck, and the shaft of the tail-feathers was white. Pale 

 naked rings round the eyes suggested the specific name. Discovered on Behring 

 Island in 1741, this fine species seems to have become extinct within about a 

 century from that date. 



The darters, snake-birds, or snake-necks, form a group o f four 

 species, readily distinguished from the cormorants by the much 

 elongated body, the extraordinarily long and thick neck, and the small flat 

 and narrow head, terminating in a straight, conical beak with a point as sharp 

 as a dagger, and the edges of its mandibles finely serrated at the tip. The limbs 

 are placed very far back on the body, and have long toes ; the wings are 

 elongated, but bluntly pointed, with the third quill the longest; and the 

 long tail is rounded, and composed of twelve stiff feathers gradually increasing 

 in width towards their tips. Both the quills and body-feathers are lustrous, 

 and generally show metallic tints, those on the upper-parts being more or 

 less elongated. Of the four species, one (Plotus levaillanti) is African, another 

 (P. anhinga) South American, a third (P. melanogaster) inhabits India, Burma, 

 and the Malay region, while the fourth is Australian. In the African species 

 the prevailing hue of the plumage is black, with a metallic green lustre; the 

 feathers of the back and wing-coverts having white shaft-streaks. The neck 

 is rusty, with a blackish brown streak running backwards from the eye, and 

 beneath this a line of white. The iris is generally reddish yellow, the naked 

 areas on the head yellowish green, the beak horn-colour, and the foot greenish 

 grey. In the female the tints are less bright. The New and Old World species, 

 although externally so alike, differ remarkably in the structure of their internal 

 organs. 



Darters frequent the banks of rivers, lakes, and swamps, where they may be 

 found either singly, in pairs, or in immense flocks ; and generally select localities 

 where trees are abundant, well-wooded islands being their especial favourites. On 

 the rivers of the Chobi Valley, Livingstone states that one of these birds may be 



