A Bird's-Eye View 



one, having been sold in Europe for $200. 

 With these divers may also be classed three 

 families of very large and heavy birds — gan- 

 nets, pelicans, and cormorants. The first two 

 of them would be very clumsy in water, were 

 it not for the notable fact that Nature has 

 supplied them with numerous interior air- 

 chambers — " water - tight compartments " — 

 which enable them to swim very lightly. One 

 noticeable peculiarity of those in this group 

 that are most distinctively divers, is the fact 

 that they stand very erect on land, the legs be- 

 ing placed so far behind that a horizontal posi- 

 tion is impossible. Indeed, some species when 

 on land use the tail as the third foot of a tripod 

 for supporting themselves. Doubtless propul- 

 sion under water is facilitated by having the 

 feet well behind, instead of under the middle 

 of the body. The birds of this group very 

 consistently are among the least aerial of all our 

 water fowl, although on occasion they can fly 

 swiftly. On the border of this group, and 

 leading into the next and more aerial division, 

 is one that, while equally adept in sub-aque- 

 ous practices, has a more airy form — that 

 remarkable bird in Florida, called the anhinga, 

 snake-bird, or "Grecian Lady." This is a 



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