228 CASSELL'S BOOK OF BIRDS. 



pile sedges anil other kinds of grass, which are heaped together in a very slovenly manner, and 

 moreover kept so wet that the contents literally lie in a sort of puddle. Their eggs, generally from 

 two to four in number, are proportionately very small, and much elongated, they have a strong white 

 shell generally covered with soft chalky matter. Both sexes brood alternately, with much self- 

 devotion, and both assist in the nurture of their young ones, which when first hatched are nearly 

 naked, but at a later period become clothed with a thick coat of dusky-coloured down. They 

 cannot be said to be fledged till they are nearly half grown, at which period they begin to follow 

 their parents into the water, by whom they are instructed for a few days, and then left to their own 

 devices. 



The DARTERS, or SNAKE-NECKS (Ploti/s), we consider as indubitably belonging to the 

 family of the Cormorants, from which they are principally distinguishable by the conformation of 

 their neck and bill ; in other particulars of structure, more especially in their internal anatomy, 

 they resemble them so closely that to separate the two races, as many English ornithologists have 

 done, is out of the question. Cormorants they are in their shape and the coloration of their 

 plumage, and they are Cormorants likewise in their habits and mode of life. 



The Darters are characterised by the extraordinary elongation of their bodies ; the thinness of 

 their snake-like necks ; their small head and straight, slender, acutely-pointed beak, the cutting edges 

 of which towards the apex are finely toothed. The legs are short, thick, strong, and placed very far 

 backwards ; the feet are provided with long toes. The wings are long, but rounded at their apices, 

 their third quill being the longest. The tail is long, and consists of twelve quill-feathers, each of which 

 becomes considerably increased in breadth towards its extremity. The general plumage is handsome, 

 and brightly coloured, the feathers upon the upper surface being much elongated, while those on the 

 under side of the body are so lax as to resemble fur. In their internal structure, as we learn from 

 Audubon's dissections, these birds present all the anatomical peculiarities of the Cormorants, the 

 most considerable differences being the smallness and slenderness of the skull and the structure of the 

 cervical vertebra?, which, from their great elongation, remind us of those of the Herons. At the present 

 time we are acquainted with four distinct species of Snake-necks, which belong respectively to 

 America, Africa, Southern Asia, and New Holland ; these differ considerably amongst themselves, not 

 only in shape and colour, but also in their mode of life. 



THE ANHINGA. 



The Anhinga {Plotus Anhinga) has the head, neck, and all the under side of the body velvet- 

 black, shaded with green, the top of the head and forehead being slightly speckled with greyish 

 brown. The upper back and upper surface of the wing are marked with patches of a lighter colour. 

 The shoulder and hinder wing-covers are longitudinally streaked with white, the quills and tail-feathers 

 are black, the latter shading into greyish brown towards their apices. The eye is bright orange-red, 

 or in some cases dirty orange-yellow ; the inner side of the leg is dingy yellowish brown, its external 

 surface dirty greyish brown. The length of this species is thirty-five inches, breadth forty-five inches ; 

 length of wing thirteen inches, length of tail, ten inches. In the female the head, hinder neck, and 

 back are of a grey-brown, the under surface is tawny, and the belly brownish black. 



Both the present species, and those inhabiting South Asia and Australia live, if not exclusively, at 

 least preferably, in fresh water. Tschudi, indeed, asserts that the Anhinga has at times been met with 

 on the open sea fishing in company with twenty or thirty others, but we are very doubtful as to the 

 correctness of this statement. 



In remote districts, seldom visited by man, these birds evince so little shyness, that it is not 



