582 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST. 



early to find full sets of eggs, but on July 1, when at the lake for one 

 day, I secured several sets of three. Owing to the color of the eggs, 

 the nests are sometimes hard to find, but if one remains quiet he will 

 soon see the birds, which have gathered over his head on his first 

 approach, silently returning to their nests, which can then be readily 

 located. I caught several pair despoiling a nest of the Grebe 

 (Podilymbus podiceps). I was attracted to the spot by the cries of the 

 Terns, and found them hovering over the nest, which was a new one, 

 containing two or more eggs, as I found one in the nest and one in the 

 water lodged among the grass." Mr. J. Graf ton Parker, Jr., says they 

 breed abundantly about Hyde and Calumet lakes, 111., and Wolf Lake, 

 Ind. Mr. 0. E. Aiken notes them as breeding abundantly in the 

 marshes of the Calumet and Kankakee rivers. Mr. Charles Barber 

 says they breed in Laporte County. Mr. E. R. Moffitt took two young 

 in White County, May 17, 1886. I know of no record of their breed- 

 ing in the north-central or northeastern part of the State. After the 

 young are grown they collect with the adults in flocks about the lakes 

 and along the sluggish rivers of the breeding region and remain until 

 August or early September, at which time they pass to the southward. 

 It is possible that some remain into October or even early November. 



C. ORDER STEG-ANOPODES. TOTIPALMATES\VIMMEKS. 

 VI. FAMILY ANH1NGKME. DARTERS. 



Character same as family. ANHINGA. 9 



9. GENUS ANHINGA BRISSON. 



Vf. FAMILY ANHINGID^ DARTERS. 



a 1 . Chiefly b'ack; greenish luster above; neck with hair-like plumes. 



A. anhinga Linn 2O 



20. (118.) Anhingu anhinga (LINN.). 



Anhinga. 

 Synonym, SNAKE BIRD. 



Adult in Summer. Head, neck and body glossy greenish-black; 

 other parts deep black: wing coverts streaked with gray; tail tipped 

 with whitish; head and neck with hair-like feathers, the forward ones 

 dirty white, the others black. Adult Male in Winter. Similar, but 

 lacking hair-like feathers. Adult Female in Summer. Head, neck 

 and breast grayish buff, a band of chestnut separating it from the 



