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AMERICAN" ANHINGA. 
The generally received opinion or belief that the Anhinga always swims 
with its body sunk beneath the surface is quite incorrect ; for it does so only 
when in sight of an enemy, and when under no apprehension of danger it is 
as buoyant as any other diving bird, such as a Cormorant, a Merganser, a 
Grebe, or a Diver. This erroneous opinion has, however, been adopted 
simply because few persons have watched the bird with sufficient care. 
When it first observes an enemy, it immediately sinks its body deeper, in 
the manner of the birds just mentioned, and the nearer the dangeivapproaches, 
the more does it sink, until at last it swims off with the head and neck only 
above the surface, when these parts, from their form and peculiar sinuous 
motion, somewhat resemble the head and part of the body of a snake. It is 
in fact from this circumstance that the Anhinga has received the name of 
Snake-bird. At such a time, it is seen constantly turning its head from side 
to side, often opening its bill as if for the purpose of inhaling a larger 
quantity of air, to enable it the better to dive, and remains under water so 
long that when it next makes its appearance it is out of your reach. When 
fishing in a state of security it dives precisely like a Cormorant, returns to 
the surface as soon as it has procured a fish or other article of food, shakes it,- 
if it is not too large often throws it up into the air, and receiving it 
conveniently in the bill, swallows it at once, and recommences its search'. 
But I doubt much if it ever seizes on anything that it cannot thus swallow 
whole. They have the curious habit of diving under any floating substances, 
such as parcels of dead weeds or leaves of trees which have accidentally 
been accumulated by the winds or currents, or even the green slimy sub- 
stances produced by putrefaction. This habit is continued by the species 
when in a perfect state of domestication, for I have seen one kept by my 
friend John Bachman thus diving when within a few feet of a quantity 
of floating rice-chaff, in one of the tide-ponds in the neighbourhood of 
Charleston. Like the Common Goose, it invariably depresses its head 
while swimming under a low bridge, or a branch or trunk of a tree hang- 
ing over the water. When it swims beneath the surface of the water, it 
spreads its wings partially, but does not employ them as a means of pro- 
pulsion, and keeps its tail always considerably expanded, using the feet as 
paddles either simultaneously or alternately. 
The quantity of fish consumed by this bird is astonishing, and what I am 
about to relate on this subject will appear equally so. One morning Dr. 
Bachman and I gave to an Anhinga a Black Fish, measuring nine and a half 
inches, by two inches in diameter ; and although the head of the fish was 
considerably larger than its body, and its strong and spinous fins. appeared 
formidable, the bird, which was then about seven months old, swallowed it 
entire, head foremost. It was in appearance digested in an hour and a half, 
