DARTER, OR SNAKE-IRD, 103 
dible yellow ochre ; inside of the mouth, dusky ; irides, dark 
crimson ; the orbit of the eye, next to the plumage of the head, 
is of a greenish blue colour, this passes round, in the form of 
a zigzag band, across the front,—the next colour is black, 
which entirely surrounds the eye ; eyelids, of a bright azure, 
running into violet next the eyeball; lores, greenish blue ; 
naked skin in front, black ; jugular pouch, jet black ; hind head, 
suberested ; along the sides of the neck there runs a line of 
loose unwebbed feathers of a dingy ash colour, resembling the 
plumage of callow young ; here and there, on the upper part 
of the neck, one perceives a feather of the same ; on the fore- 
head there is a small knob or protuberance ; the neck, near its 
centre, takes a singular bend, in order to enable the bird to 
dart forward its bill with velocity when it takes its prey ; lees 
and feet of a yellowish clay colour, the toes and hind part 
of the legs with a dash of dusky ; claws greatly faleated ; when 
the wings are closed they extend to the centre of the tail. 
Length, from the tip of the bill to the end of the tail, two 
feet ten inches,* breadth three feet ten inches ; bill to the angle 
of the mouth, full four inches ; tail, ten inches and a half, com- 
posed of twelve broad and stiff feathers ; weight, three pounds 
and a half.’ 
The serratures of the bill are extremely sharp, so much so, 
that when one applies tow, or such like substance, to the bird’s 
mouth, it is with difficulty disengaged. 
The lower mandible and throat, asin the divers, are capable 
of great expansion to facilitate the swallowing of fish, which 
constitute the food of this species. ‘The position of these birds, 
when standing, is like that of the gannets. 
The above description was taken from a fine adult male 
* The admeasurement of the specimen described in the first edition 
of the ninth volume was made by Wilson himself from the stuffed bird 
in Peale’s Museum. It differs considerably from that described above ; 
but as our specimen was a very fine one, there is room to conjecture 
that there was some error in the admeasurement of the former, ours 
being described immediately after death. 
