166 



TOTIPALMATE SWIMMERS - STEOANOPODES. 



the Phalacroc<yrax pentpirilldtun does not occur on the ixlimds at present. The nntives, however, 

 remenilHir very well the time when it wiw |(ientil'ul on the rockn, eHpeciully on the ontlyin},' islet, 

 Are-Kanieii. About thirty years ago, they say, the lust ones were seen ; and the reason Ihey give 

 why this binl has Ixiconie exterminated here on the islanil is, that it was killed in great numbers 

 lor fo(j<l. They unaniniimsly asseri that it has not been seen since ; and they only Luighed whin 

 I offered It very high reward lor a specimen." 



We know of only three examples ol" this bird in museums — one in St. Petersburg, one in the 

 British Museum, and one in Leyden. 



Family PLOTID^. — The Anhinoas. 



Chak. Bill slender, pointed, coinpre8.sed, and very Heron-like in shape, the 

 cuhneti and comniissiire almost straight, the gonys slightly ascending ; terminal 

 half of the toinia finely serrated, the serrations directed backward, and formin;,' 

 a series of close-set, sharp-pointed, fine bristly teeth ; nostrils obliterated. Head 

 small, neck slender and greatly elongated (nearly as long as the wing); outer 

 toe about as long as the middle, or slightly shorter. Tail very long, fan-shaped, 

 rounded, the feathers widened toward the ends, the outer webs of the intermedia; 

 in fully adult birds transversely corrugated or " fluted." 



Tliis singular family consists of but one gonus, Plotus, which has a representative 

 in the warmer parts of each of the great divisions of the earth. 



Genus PLOTUS, Linn^us. 

 Plotus, Linn. S. N. I. 1766, 21" (type, P. anhinga, Linn.). 



Char. The same as those of the family (see above). 



Only one species of this genus occurs in America. This is represented in Africa by the P. 

 Levailliintii, Light. ; in India by P. iiulanogaskr, Gmel. ; and in Australia by P. nov(e-hollandi(r, 

 QouLD. They all closely resemble P. anhimja, but are quite distinct. 



Plotus anhinga. 



THE AMEBICAV AKHIHGA; SNAXE-BIBD. 



Plotus anhinga, Linn. S. N. I. 1766, 580. — Nutt. Man. II. 1834, .507. — Bonap. Consp. II. 185.5, 

 180. — Auu. Orn. Biog. \\\ 1838, 136 ; Synop. 1839, 306 ; B. Am. VI. 1843, 443, pi. 420. — 

 Lawr. in Bttird's H. N. Am. 1858, 883. — Baiiid, Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, no. 628. — Colms, 

 Key, 1872, 306 ; Check List, 1873, no. 536 ; 2d ed. 1882, no. 760. — Kidgw, Nom. N. Am. li. 

 1881, no. 649. 



Plotus mclanogaster, Wils. Am. Om. IX. 1824, 79, 82, pi. 74 (not of Omel.). 



Hab. Tropical and Subtropical America ; Gulf States ond Lower Mississippi Valley, north to 

 the mouth of the Ohio. 



Sp. Char. Adult male, in full breeding-plumage: Plumage of the neck and body deep glossy 

 black, with a faint greenish gloss ; scapulars and lesser wing-coverts marked centrally (longitudin- 

 ally) with light hoary ash, these markings elliptical on the upper part of the scapular region, limai 

 or nearly acicular on the longer scapulars, and broadly ovate on the wing-coverls ; exposed suriaci' 

 of the middle and greater wing-coverts light hoary ash ; remainder of the wings, with the tail, 

 deep black, the latter less glossy, and broadly tipped with pale brown, passing into dirty whitish 



