450 AMERICAN ANHINGA. 



lagoons, bayous, or rivers, distant from inhabited places. They are fre- 

 quently placed singly, but at times amidst hundreds or even thousands of 

 nests of several species of Herons, especially Jirdea alba and Ji. Herodias, 

 the Great White and Great Blue Herons. As however in all cases the form, 

 size, and component materials are nearly the same, I will here describe a 

 nest procured for the purpose by my friend Bachman. 



It measured fully two feet in diameter, and was of a flattened form, much 

 resembling that of the Florida Cormorant. The first or bottom layer was 

 made of dry sticks of different sizes, some nearly half an inch in diameter, 

 laid crosswise, but in a circular manner. Green branches with leaves on 

 them, of the common myrtle, Myrica cerifera, a quantity of Spanish moss, 

 and some slender roots, formed the upper and inside layer, which was as 

 solid and compact as that of any nest of the Heron tribe. This nest 

 contained four eggs; another examined on the same day had four young 

 birds; a third only three; and in no instance has a nest of the Anhinga been 

 found with either eight eggs, or "two eggs and six young ones," as men- 

 tioned by Mr. Abbott, of Georgia, in his notes transmitted to Wilson. Mr. 

 Abbott is however correct in saying that this species "will occupy the same 

 tree for a series of years," and I have myself known a pair to breed in the 

 same nest three seasons, augmenting and repairing in every succeeding 

 spring, as Cormorants and Herons are wont to do. The eggs average two 

 inches and five-eighths in length, by one and a quarter in diameter, and are 

 of an elongated oval form, of a dull uniform whitish colour externally, being 

 covered with a chalky substance, beneath which the shell, on being carefully 

 scraped, is of a light blue, precisely resembling in this respect the eggs of the 

 different species of American Cormorants with which I am acquainted. 



The young when about a fortnight old are clad with a uniform buflf- 

 colourcd down; their bill is black, their feet yellowish-white, their head and 

 neck nearly naked; and now they resemble young Cormorants, though of a 

 different colour. The wing feathers make their appearance through the 

 down, and are dark brown. The birds in the same nest differ as much in 

 size as those of Cormorants, the largest being almost twice the size of the 

 smallest. At this age the} 7 are in the habit of raising themselves by placing 

 their bills on the upper part of the nest, or over a branch if convenient, and 

 drawing themselves up by their jaws, which on such occasions they open 

 very widely. This habit is continued by young birds whilst in confinement, 

 and was also observed in the Cormorant, Phalacrocorax Carbo, the young 

 of which assisted themselves with their bills while crawling about on the 

 deck of the Ripley. The action is indeed performed by the Anhinga at all 

 periods of its life. At an early age the young utter a low wheezing call, 

 and at times some cries resembling those of the young of the smaller species 



