Birds. 3603 



cies Anhinga in particular, as extracted chiefly from Nuttall's c Manual 

 of American Ornithology,' Temminck's ' Manuel d'Ornithologie,' the 

 'Encyclopaedia Britannica,' and the * Encyclopaedia Metropolitana.' 



From reference to these works, it will appear that great confusion 

 exists among authors with regard to the number of species in this 

 genus, some enumerating four, others two, and some, as Vieillot, only 

 one ; Temminck, however, seems to have decided the matter, and de- 

 termines two species, viz. : — 



1. Plotus le Vaillantii, Tern. 



V Anhinga roux du Senegal, Buff. 

 The Rufous-winged Darter. 



Which species only inhabits the hottest parts of Africa. 



2. Plotus Anhinga, Linn. 



U Anhinga, Briss. 



Plotus melanogaster, Wilson, Vieillot, Buffon, tyc. 



And which bears the apparently irreconcileable English names of 

 " the black-bellied " and " the white-bellied " darter ; but which, in 

 all probability, may both be accurate descriptions of the plumage of 

 the same bird, in different stages ; the former referring to the adult, 

 the latter to the immature bird. It is (as I conceive) the adult bird 

 of the " black-bellied darter" which has now visited our shores. 



According to Nuttall, the Plotus Anhinga is " an inhabitant of the 

 Southern States of North America, and its geographical range does not 

 extend farther towards the North than Cape Fear river in North Caro- 

 lina, while southward it is known in Cayenne, Brazil," &c. ; others 

 again say that it is " largely spread over both North and South 

 America ; " and Wilson adds, that " wherever the limbs of a tree 

 project over and dip into the water, there these birds are sure to be 

 found." 



The striking peculiarities of this bird are its long, curved, snake- 

 like neck, and its small head, which have given occasion to its being 

 described as a snake joined to the body of a bird ; and hence its com- 

 mon name in America of" Snake-bird;" and amongst the Hottentots 

 of Africa of " Schlanghals-vogel," or serpent-necked bird, as applied 

 to its rufous-winged congener: the neck of these birds being con- 

 stantly in motion, excepting only in flight, when it is stretched out 

 stiffly in a horizontal line with the tail. 



Such being the character, appearance, and usual habitats of the 

 Plotus Anhinga, now come the questions, Whence did our bird come 

 when he was shot near Poole ? Did he come of his own accord so far 



