AMERICAN ANHINGA. 
161 
quently placed singly, but at times amidst hundreds or even thousands of 
nests of several species of Herons, especially Ardea alba , and A. Herodias 
the Great White and Great Blue Herons. As however in all cases the form, 
size, and component materials are nearly the same, I will hero describe a 
nest procured for the purpose by my friend Bachman. 
It measured fully two feet in diameter, and was of a flattened form, much 
resembling that of the Florida Cormorant. The first or bottom layer was 
made of dry sticks of different sizes, some nearly half an inch in diameter, 
laid crosswise, but in a circular manner. Green branches with leaves on 
them, of the common myrtle, Myrica cerifera, a quantity of Spanish moss, 
and some slender roots, formed the upper and inside layer, which was as 
solid and compact as that of any nest of the Heron tribe. This nest 
contained four eggs ; another examined on the same day had four young 
birds ; a third only three ; and in no instance has a nest of the Anhinga been 
found with either eight eggs, or “ two eggs and six young ones,” as men- 
tioned by Mr. Abbott, of Georgia, in his notes transmitted to Wilson. Mr. 
Abbott is however correct in saying that this species “ will occupy the same 
tree for a series of years,” and I have myself known a pair to breed in the 
same nest three seasons, augmenting and repairing in every succeeding 
spring, as Cormorants and Herons are wont to do. The eggs average two 
inches and five-eighths in length, by one and a quarter in diameter, and are 
of an elongated oval form, of a dull uniform whitish colour externally, being 
covered with a chalky substance, beneath which the shell, on being carefully 
scraped, is of a light blue, precisely resembling in this respect the eggs of 
the different species of American Cormorants with which I am acquainted. 
The young when about a fortnight old are clad with a uniform buff- 
coloured down ; their bill is black, their feet yellowish-white, their head and 
neck nearly naked ; and now they resemble young Cormorants, though of a 
different colour. The wing feathers make their appearance through the 
down, and are dark brown. The birds in the same nest differ as much in 
size as those of Cormorants, the largest being almost twice the size of the 
smallest. At this age they are in the habit of raising themselves by placing 
their bills on the upper part of the nest, or over a branch if convenient, and 
drawing themselves up by their jaws, which on such occasions they open 
very widely. This habit is continued by young birds whilst in confinement, 
and was also observed in the Cormorant, Phalacrocorax Carbo, the young 
of which assisted themselves with their bills while crawling about on the 
deck of the Ripley. The action is indeed performed by the Anhinga at all 
periods of its life. At an early age the young utter a low wheezing call, 
and at times some cries resembling those of the young of the smaller species 
of Herons. From birth they are fed by regurgitation, which one might 
suppose an irksome task to the parent birds, as during the act they open 
Vol. YII.— 21 
