H Swamp Beauts 



the chin, a Hght gray stripe obscurely- 

 descending from the head along the neck 

 for six inches; below this the neck and 

 breast are intensely black, with a fine 

 bottle-green shimmer. The wings, too, 

 are black, with a gray band across near 

 the shoulder. Tail black, with a pale 

 yellowish ash tip. I made note of the 

 cat-like claws, curved and sharp as needles, 

 which enabled it to climb from the water 

 up a tree-bole or cypress root with great 

 ease. Its legs were short, its feet flat as 

 a duck's, and its tail nearly a foot long. 



In dropping from its perch the snake- 

 bird goes down headforemost ; but some- 

 times, while swimming, it dives backward, 

 darting tail foremost out of sight; or it 

 gently sinks rearward, gradually going 

 down until only its little sharp head is 

 above water. No bird, not even the 

 loon, not even the pelican, is a better 

 diver. In the cypress wastes that border 

 Lake Okeechobee I have seen groups of 

 snake-birds posing on the talIest±ree-tops, 

 their bodies and necks stretched upward 

 and their wings spread to full length in the 

 198 



