411 
of the United States „ 
is withdrawn at the least appearance of danger. Neck kept 
constantly vibrating, in flight stretched forward. When alarm- 
ed, drop from the limbs where they sit in company, silently 
sliding into the water, re-appearing at a distance, their slender 
neck and small head being easily mistaken for a snake. Feed 
on fishes, which they catch dexterously, darting at them with 
their sharp bill and long neck, swallowing small ones entire, 
and retiring to a rock to tear the larger in pieces with their 
claws. Build in trees, nest constructed with sticks: eggs 
few in number. 
Confined to the warm parts of both continents. Species 
only two. 
362 . Plotus anhinga, L. Black, varied with hoary : scapu- 
lars short, lanceolate ; naked space on the throat extensive, 
black. 
Adult, belly black ; in spring, hind head with long, slen- 
der, black feathers. 
Young, neck and beneath whitish. 
Black-bellied Darter , Plotus melanogaster , Wils. ix.p. 79 . 
pi. 74 .fig. 1. adult, and p. 82 . pl> 74 . fig . 2 . young . P. me- 
lanogaster, Uieill. Gal. des Ois. pi. 278 . ad. bad figure . 
Buff.pl. enl. 960 . ad.pl. enl. 959 . young. 
Inhabits during summer the rivers of the southern states : 
also Mexico and South America : common throughout the 
year in Florida.* 
* Plotus Vaillantii , Temm. Black varied wih hoary; crown .rufous, 
scapulars long, subulate ; naked space of the throat very small, yellow. 
Adult, beneath black ; in breeding season, sides of the neck with long, 
slender, white feathers. 
Young, beneath pale rufous. 
Plotus Vaillantii , Temm. pi. col. 380 . ad. in full dress. Buff. pL 
enl. 106 . bad figure. 
Inhabits eastern and southern Africa, India, and Oceania. 
