THE SNAKE BIRD. 
627 
Yellow-bill Tropic Bird {Phcethon Jtamrostris) is a maritime bird, very abundant in 
Bermuda, but not often seen on our coast, but is occasionally seen off Florida. The preceding 
species is the Red-billed. 
The singular Barters are inhabitants of two parts of the world, one species inhabiting 
Africa, and another being found in America. With their slender heads, their long snake-like 
necks, and their evidently aquatic bodies, they really look as if they had been formed on the 
same model as the well-known plesiosaurus. 
The common Barter inhabits many parts of America, and is found along the banks of 
rivers and marshy grounds. Mr. Ord writes as follows of these birds : “The first individual 
that I saw in Florida was making away to avoid me, along the shore of a reedy marsh, which 
was lined with alligators, and the first impression on my mind was that I beheld a snake, but 
the recollection of the habits of the bird soon undeceived me. To pursue these birds at such 
times is useless, as they cannot be induced to rise, or even to expose their bodies.” 
LEVAILLANT’S DARTER, OR SNAKE-BIRD. — Plotus levailliantii. 
Another species, Levaillant’s Barter, or Snake-bird {Plotus levaillantii ), is a native 
of Africa, and its habits and general form resemble the preceding species. In the water it is 
most agile, and can often dive at the flash of a gun and place itself in safety, by going under 
water for a considerable distance in a direction where it was not expected, and then rising into 
the air and flying off. 
The Snake-bird {Plotus anhinga). This most remarkable bird inhabits Florida and the 
Gulf States. Barter is another name. Its length is three feet, but the neck and tail are so 
long the bird has a most snake-like appearance. 
