ANHINGA OK SNAKE-BIRD. 14] 
around, and by looking either up or down the bayou I could see many 
Anhingas speeding away to other parts. My dog, as obedient as the 
most submissive of servants, never stirred until ordered, when he would 
walk cautiously into the water, swim up to’ the dead bird, and having 
brought it to me, lie down gently in his place. In this manner, in the 
course of one day I procured fourteen of these birds, and wounded se- 
veral others. I may here at once tell you that all the roosting places 
of the Anhinga which I have seen were over the water, either on the 
shore or in the midst of some stagnant pool; and this situation they 
seem to select because there they can enjoy the first gladdening rays 
of the morning sun, or bask in the blaze of its noontide splendour, and 
also observe with greater ease the approach of their enemies, as they 
betake themselves to it after feeding, and remain there until hunger 
urges them to fly off. There, trusting to the extraordinary keenness 
of their beautiful bright eyes in spying the marauding sons of the forest, 
or the not less dangerous enthusiast, who, probably like yourself, would 
venture through mud and slime up to his very neck, to get within rifle 
shot of a bird so remarkable in form and manners, the Anhingas, or 
“‘ Grecian Ladies,” stand erect, with their wings and tail fully or par- 
tially spread out in the sunshine, whilst their long slender necks and 
heads are thrown as it were in every direction by the most curious 
and sudden jerks and bendings. Their bills are open, and you see that 
the intense heat of the atmosphere induces them to suffer their gular 
pouch to hang loosely. What delightful sights and scenes these have 
been to me, good Reader! With what anxiety have I waded toward 
these birds, to watch their movements, while at the same time I cooled 
my over-heated body, and left behind on the shores myriads of hungry 
sand-flies, gnats, mosquitoes, and ticks, that had annoyed me for hours ! 
And oh! how great has been my pleasure when, after several failures, 
I have at last picked up the spotted bird, examined it with care, and 
then returned to the gloomy shore, to note my observations! Great too 
is my pleasure in now relating to you the results of my long personal 
experience, together with that of my excellent friend Dr Bacuman, 
who has transmitted his observations on this bird to me. 
Witsoy, I am inclined to think, never saw a live Anhinga; and 
the notes, furnished by Mr Azsort of Georgia, which he has published, 
are very far from being correct. In the supplementary volumes of 
American Ornithology published in Philadelphia, the Editor, who visit- 
