PLATE XI. 



GENUS PLOTUS (Linn.) 



AN example of this genus is found in South America. Africa, India, Malay, and Australia. The 

 distinctions between the various species are not clearly defined, and, wherever it is found, the Darter 

 is always of the same shv nature, which makes a close observation of its habits exceedingly difficult. 



PLOTUS NOVJE IIOLLAXDUE (Gould). 



DARTER. Genus: Plotus. 



THIS bird offers many singular points which well repay study. Its shape alone is sufficient to 

 single it out for observation, with its peculiarly long lean neck and narrow head, which gives an 

 appearance that defies better description than Buffon's, who said, when he first examined it, that " it had 

 the head of ;i snake grafted on the body of a bird." It possesses more than a mere physical resemblance 

 to the snake, for it is stealthy and cunning beyond most birds. In common with other varieties of 

 the Palmipides, it perches on trees above the water : it often sits perfectly still for hours on high limbs, 

 and it is then that it is most easily approached by the sportsman. When on the lower limbs near the 

 water it is always on the alert, and usually sees its enemy before it is seen by him. Then it drops into 

 the water like a stone, and, once there, in its favourite element, defies pursuit, Here its greatest 

 peculiarity is seen : never swimming with much of the body exposed : when its safety is threatened the 

 bodv sinks below the surface altogether, and nothing is to be seen but the slender neck wrifffflinaf swiftly 

 and silently towards shelter. When first seen swimming thus, the Darter is almost invariably taken by 

 the inexperienced for a snake. If it feels itself watched it sinks silently from sight, and dives to a 

 wonderful distance before rising again. Here its cunning appears ; it either reappears under sheltering 

 weeds, or, if none are within reach, entirely reverses the direction in which it was swimming, reappearing 

 back towards where it was first seen ; then, w ith only a slight pause, it pursues some fresh, unaccountable 

 course. It haunts the upper leaches of arms of the sea, and in fresh water is to be found on the large 

 lagoons and waterholes of the creeks and rivers in many parts of the interior. 



The food consists of fish and water insects. Its powers of diving in pursuit of these are not 

 excelled by any bird : its swiftness and endurance under water are marvellous. 



February and March constitute the breeding season in the southern parts of Australia, when a 

 large party of these birds gather and build their nests close together, forming a colony. The nests are 

 almost Hat. and are built rudely of coarse twigs in the mangroves or other bushes surrounding the water. 

 From the worn and soiled appearance of many of these nests which have been examined, the birds appear 

 to use them year after year, renewing them each season with fresh material. Vast numbers of eggs have 

 been found in these collections of nests : they are sweet and wholesome to eat. Each nest contains four 

 eggs : they are of an earthy colour, and the lining membrane is blue-grey. The egg is rather smaller 

 than the average size of that of an ordinary domestic hen. Both sexes assist in the incubation. 



A difference in colour exists between the sexes. The neck and sides of the breast in the female 

 are light brow n, being black in the male. The young arc also of this colour till well over the first year. 



