3604 Birds. 



from home, or did he escape from a ship ? Mr. Newton and I exa- 

 mined the plumage, especially the tail-feathers and wings, minutely, 

 and our opinion is, that they bear no marks of confinement. Again, 

 the time of year in which it was killed (June), and the place (on the 

 coast of Dorsetshire), make it quite possible that, as a straggler, it 

 reached our shores of its own free will. Whether this was the case 

 or not, seems to me very problematical, and the absence of the person 

 who shot the bird, leaves us in ignorance of all the details of its cap- 

 ture, still, on the whole, I am inclined to believe it was a wanderer by 

 choice or accident from the New to the Old World, although it met 

 with a somewhat warmer reception here than it anticipated. And 

 though I am most strongly opposed to any straggler to our shores be- 

 ing at once admitted into our lists of British birds on an equal footing 

 with those that are indigenous, and most common, yet I cannot but 

 think it has an equal claim to such a position with the American scaup, 

 the American wigeon, and others. 



I subjoin a figure (Zool. 3601), and also a description of this singu- 

 lar bird in Mr. Dangerfield's possession, which will be seen to tally 

 exactly with NuttalFs account of the " Black-bellied Darter" (Plotus 

 Anhinga), and to leave no doubt that it is that bird. 



Total length from point of bill to end of tail, 34 inches ; length of 

 bill from tip to gape, 4 inches ; neck, 14 inches; wings, from shoul- 

 der to extreme point, 13 inches ; tail, 10 inches ; greatest breadth of 

 body, 4 inches. 



General colour of plumage above and below, glossy black shot with 

 green ; on the upper parts of the back are many small specks and 

 spots of white, which become larger on the wing-coverts and secon- 

 daries, until they assume the form of oblong streaks and bars of white: 

 upper part of the neck dusky gray, gradually becoming darker lower 

 down, till it joins with and assumes the same glossy jet black as the 

 under parts : throat and chin dusky white : under side of neck gene- 

 rally of a lighter shade than the upper : wings black, extending to 

 about a third of the tail : tail long, narrow, rounded ; at the base 

 black, the outer feathers crimped at the outer edge, very dirty white 

 at the tip : legs strong, thick, short ; claws very much hooked : bill 

 straight, sharp, and furnished with a small pouch under the lower 

 mandible. 



I should add that the drawing is made from the bird exactly in the 

 position it now holds. A comparison of this drawing with the figure 

 in Nuttall's ' Manual of American Ornithology,' will at once show that 

 although so exceedingly long in proportion to its breadth, it is, when 



