402 



THE RED-BACKED PELICAN THE DARTER TRIBE. 



thi? manner they supply a very plentiful table; but still their naturij 

 pl'jctony cannot be reclaimed even by education. They have always 

 a string fastened round their throats while they fish, for the purpose 

 of preventing them from swallowing their prey; as they would 

 oilurxvise at once satiate themselves, and discontinue their pursuit. 



OF THE DARTER TRIBE IN GENERAL. 



THESE birds have a small head, and a very long and slender neck. 

 1 heir bill is long, straight, and sharp-pointed, and, at its base, are the 

 nostrils, situated in a long and conspicuous fissure. The face and 

 chin are bare of feathers. The legs are short, and the four toes are 

 all well webbed together. 



There are but three ascertained species of this tribe, and these are 

 confined to the hot latitudes; two to America, and the third princi- 

 pally to Ceylon and Java. They live almost entirely on fish, which 

 they take by darting forward their bill. They generally build their 

 nests and roost in the trees. 



THE BLACK-BELLIED DARTER, AND THE WHITE-BELLIED DARTER. 



In countries where every one's ideas run on poisonous animals, 

 any person who sees only the head and neck of the Black-bellied 

 Darter, while the rest of the body is concealed among the foliage, 

 would naturally mistake it for one of those serpents accustomedto 

 climb into and reside in trees. And the illusion is increased by ita 

 having all the tortuous motion of those reptiles. In whatever situa- 

 tion it happens to 

 be, whether swim- 

 ming, flying, or at 

 rest, the most appa- 

 rent and remarka- 

 ble part of its body 

 is its long and 

 Blender neck, which 

 is constantly in mo- 

 tion, except during 

 flight, when it be- 

 comes immovable 

 and extended, and 

 forms, with the tail, 

 a perfectly straight 

 and horizontal line. 

 The principal food 

 of the Black-bellied 

 Darter is fish, 

 which, if small 

 enough, it swallows 

 entire; but, if they are too large, it flies off with them to some rock 01 

 stump of a tree, where, fixing them under one of its feet, it tears them 

 to pieces with its bill. 



BLACK-BMJJED DARTER. 



