230 cassell's book of birbs. 



smaller one, when hungry, incessantly trying to force its bill into the mouth and throat of the other, 

 which, after being thus teased for a short time, would open its mouth, to suffer the little one to thrust 

 its whole head down the throat of its brother, from which it would receive the fish which the latter had 

 swallowed. In this singular manner did the larger bird — which after awhile proved to be a male- 

 continue to act as the foster-parent of his weaker sister, which indeed seemed to be thrown on his 

 protection. The one still in my possession is fed on fish, which it picks up, tosses a few times in the 

 air, and swallows at the first convenient opportunity — that is, when the fish falls towards its mouth 

 head-foremost. At the outset, when the fish was large, I had it cut into pieces, thinking that 

 the apparent slenderness of the bird's neck could not expand enough to swallow it whole ; but I soon 

 ascertained that this was not necessary. Fish three times the size of the neck were tossed up, seized 

 by the expanded jaws and gobbled at once, and immediately after, the bird would come to my feet, 

 clicking its bill in such an unequivocal manner that I never failed to give it more. My pet was tame 

 from the beginning of its captivity, and followed me about the house and garden until it became quite 

 troublesome from its attachment to me. It was not until the bird was fully fledged that I found it 

 willing or anxious to go into the water ; and then whenever it saw me go towards the pond, it 

 accompanied me as far as the gate of the garden, seeming to say, ' Pray let me go.' On my opening 

 the gate, it at once followed me, waddling like a Duck ; and no sooner was it in sight of its favourite 

 element than it immediately let itself in, not with a plunge, but by dropping from a plank into 

 the stream, where for awhile it would swim like a Duck, then dipping its long neck, it would dive for 

 the purpose of procuring fish. The water was clear enough to enable me to see all its movements ; 

 and after many devious windings, it would emerge at the distance of forty or fifty yards. This bird 

 sleeps in the open air during warm nights, perched on the highest bar of the fence, with its head under 

 its wings, and in rainy weather it often sits in the same position for nearly the whole day. It appears 

 to be very susceptible of cold, retreating to the kitchen and near the fire, battling with the cook or the 

 dogs for the most comfortable place on the hearth. Whenever the sun shines, it spreads its wings 

 and tail, rustles its feathers, and seems delighted with our warmest sunny days. AVhen walking, and 

 occasionally hopping, it does not support itself by the tail as Cormorants sometimes do. When fishes 

 are presented to it, it seizes and swallows them greedily ; but when these cannot be procured, we 

 are forced to feed it on meat, when it opens its mouth and receives the food placed in it. Occa- 

 sionally it has spent several days without any food ; but in those cases the bird became very trouble- 

 some, harassing all around by its incessant croakings, and giving blows to ths servants, as if to 

 remind them of their neglect." 



LE VAILLANT'S SNAKE BIRD. 

 Le Vaillant's Snake Bird {Plolus Levaillantii), like the preceding species, is black upon the 

 under side of the body, the neck is rust-red, a stripe beginning at the eye, and extending down the sides 

 of the neck is blackish brown, and another below this white. The plumage on the back is nut-brown, 

 the long feathers are silvery white ; the wings and tail are black, the latter becoming somewhat lighter 

 towards its extremity. The eye is copper-colour, and the bare skin on the head yellowish green ; the 

 beak is grey, and foot greenish blue. The length of this bird is thirty-three inches, and its breadth 

 forty-one inches and a half; the wing measures thirteen inches and tail nine inches and a half. The 

 female resembles her mate, but is not so brightly coloured. Le Vaillant's Snake Bird inhabits Africa, 

 where it is to be met with on suitable sheets of water from 15 north latitude to the Cape of Good Hope. 



The CORMORANTS PROPER {Phalacrocorax) differ from the Snake Birds principally in 

 their more bulky shape and in the construction of their bill. Their beak, which is of moderate length, 



