THE SNAKE-BIRD UNDER WATER 



227 



it can pursue and capture live fish under water is enough to 

 strike terror to the hearts of finny folk. The bird swims with 

 a sharp kink in its neck, driving forward by powerful strokes 



SNAKE-BIRD. 



of its cup-shaped feet. On overtaking a fish the kink in its 

 neck flies straight, and like the stab of a swift dagger the 

 finny victim is transfixed. Then the bird rises to the surface — 

 for it is unable to swallow its food under water — tosses the fish 

 into the air, catches it head first and in an instant it is gone. 



