120 



that's it r t 



top of the head, and about the fourth part of 

 the beak, and is entirely wanting in the female ; 

 the skin of the neck is dilated tinder the throat 

 into a kind of wattle, and along the sides of the 

 neck runs a wrinkled skinny stripe or band, the 

 processes of which are moveable at will. The 

 tail is broad, and somewhat wedge-shaped. 

 Length about four feet ; expanse of wing about 

 nine feet ; tarsi powerful.* 



The dodo, 6, is a bird of a 

 very different nature, looking, 

 from its heavy form and sluggish 

 manner, more like a feathered 



6 



420. 



reptile than a member of the 

 active winged tribes. It is a 

 native of 'the Mauritius, but is a 

 rare species. Its mandibles are 

 large and crooked, head large, 

 and neck thick and long. It may 

 be said to occupy the same posi- 

 tion among birds that the sloth 

 does among quadrupeds. 

 . The darter, or snake-bird, 7, 

 is remarkable for its enormous 

 length of neck. It is an aquatic 

 bird, and swims with its body 

 under the water, while its neck 

 twists about above the surface in 

 a very peculiar manner. When 

 in large numbers, the necks of 

 these birds look exactly like 

 snakes rising out of the water, 

 and for such they have been mis- 



* Knight's Pictorial Museun.. 



taken by travellers. They are 

 numerous in America, and also 

 in Africa. 



7 



421. 



They delight to sit in little peaceful commu- 

 nities, on the dry limbs of trees, hanging over 

 the still waters, with their wings and tails ex- 

 panded, to cool and air themselves, and to 

 behold their images in the watery mirror be- 

 neath. At such times, when approached, they 

 drop off the limbs into the water, as if dead, 

 and for a minute or two are not to be seen ; 

 when, on a sudden, at a great distance, their 

 long necks appear like snakes rising erect out 

 of the water. In the heat of the day they are 

 seen in great numbers sailing very high in the 

 air over lakes and rivers.* 



The umbrella-bird, 8, a rare 

 and beautiful creature, is distin- 

 guished by a crest of full out- 

 spreading plumes, which tower 

 above its head and fall over the 

 beak, reminding us of the crest 

 of a Grecian helmet. From the 

 upper part of the chest depends 

 a sort of apron of feathers, 9 ; the 

 tail is graduated ; the bill is 



* Baptram. 



