376 
SNAKE-BIRD. 
preening themselves; and, probably, giving them a better op- 
portunity, than when swimming, of observing their finny prey. 
They crawl from the water upon the limbs, and fix themselves 
in an upright position, which they maintain in the utmost silence. 
If there be foliage, or the long moss, they secrete themselves 
in it in such a manner that they cannot be perceived, unless 
one be close to them. When approached, they drop into the 
water with such surprising skill, that one is astonished how so 
large a body can plunge with so little noise, the agitation of the 
water being, apparently, not greater than that occasioned by 
the gliding of an eel. 
Formerly the Darter was considered by voyagers as an ano- 
malous production, a monster partaking of the nature of the 
snake and the Duck; and in some ancient charts which 1 have 
seen, it is delineated in all the extravagance of fiction. 
From Mr. William Bartram we have received the following 
account of the subject of our history: 
“ Here is in this river,* and in the waters all over Florida, 
a very curious and handsome bird, the people call them Snake- 
birds; I think I have seen paintings of them on the Chinese 
screens, and other Indian pictures; they seem to be a species of 
Colymbus, but far more beautiful and delicately formed than 
any other that I have ever seen. They delight to sit in little 
peaceable communities, on the dry limbs of trees, hanging over 
the still waters, with their wings and tails expanded, I suppose 
to cool and air themselves, when at the same time they behold 
their images in the watery mirror. At such times when we ap- 
proach them, 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 slender head and neck appear, 
like a snake rising erect out of the water; and no other part of 
them is to be seen when swimming, except sometimes the tip 
end of their tail. In the heat of the day they are seen in great 
numbers, sailing very high in the air, over lakes and rivers. 
* The river St. Juan, East Florida- 
