DARTER, OR SNAKE-BIRD. 
‘203 
and agreeable to the touch ; the commencement of the back is 
ornamented with small, oblong, ashy white spots, which pass 
bend, and enable the head to be thrown forward with great force. The effect 
may be easily seen, and produced, by a jointed stick having cords affixed, and 
acted on in this way. We may here introduce the genera PeUcanus, Phala^ 
cracorax, Tachypetes, Sula, and Heliornis, with a short notice of the species of 
America, as pointed out by the ornithologists who have described the productions 
of that country. 
Pelicanus, Linn. 
1. P. onocrotalus, — White Pelican. — According to Bonaparte, rare and accidental on the 
coasts of the Middle States, and said by Dr Richardson to be numerous in the interior 
of the fur countries, up to the 61st deg. parallel. 
2. P. fuscus, Linnaeus.— Brown Pelican,— Common in the Southern States, where it 
breeds. 
Phalacracorax, Briss. 
The species of this genus amount to a considerable number, and are distributed 
over the known world, but there yet exists confusion among them, from the near 
alliance of many to each other. The Prince of Musignano seems to have taken 
the authority of Dumont for the species he enumerates. They are as follow : — 
1. P. carbo. — Cormorant of Wilson’s list.— Tail of fourteen feathers ; rare and migratory 
in the United States. 
2. P, graculus. — Tail, twelve feathers ; not uncommon in spring and autumn in the Mid- 
dle States j very common in Florida, where it breeds ; though very abundant in the 
Arctic and Antarctic circles. 
3. P. Rather rare, and fotmd during winter only in the United States, 
4. P. pygmcEus . — Inhabiting the north of both continents. 
5. P. Inhabiting Africa and America; not found in Europe. 
The Prince of Musignano is doubtful whether the two last are entitled to any 
place in the ornithology of America, the specimens which he has seen of both 
being only reported to have been killed in that country. He mentions also an- 
other inhabiting the United States, which he has not examined, but thinks may 
turn out P. Brazilianus. 
The first four species are common to Europe and America ; the three first are 
also British. In addition to these, Mr Swainson has described another in the 
Northern Zoology, under the title dilophus, or double-crested cormorant, which 
he cannot reconcile to any of these already described. His characters are : — 
“ Tail of twelve feathers ; bill, three inches and a half long ; a crested tuft of 
feathers behind each eye.” 
Tachypetes, Vieill. 
1. T. aquilus, Vieill.— Not uncommon during summer on the coasts of the United States, 
as far south as Carolina. 
