280 
STEGANOPODOUS BIRDS. 
In China and Japan cormorants have been trained to fish for their masters 
from time immemorial, and early in the seventeenth century this practice was 
introduced into Europe as a sport, which was followed both in Holland, France, 
and England. In the East the cormorants are taught to fish either from the bank 
or from a raft, and although young or imperfectly trained birds wear a collar, to 
which a cord may be attached, to prevent them swallowing their prey, in many 
cases the fully trained birds are allowed to fish without any kind of restraint. 
Till they receive permission to forage for themselves, they invariably bring all 
their captures to their owner; and it is said that when the bird has seized a fish 
too large for it to carry unaided, another immediately comes to its assistance. In 
captivity cormorants are readily tamed, and exhibit considerable intelligence and 
attachment. Although generally considered highly unpalatable, their flesh is 
relished by Arabs and Lapps. Not only on' account of being the largest member of 
the genus, but as having been exterminated comparatively soon after its discovery, 
Pallas’s cormorant ( P. perspicillatus) claims a passing notice. The plumage both 
above and below was a deep lustrous green, with a blue gloss on the neck, and 
purplish reflections on the scapulars. Long straw-coloured feathers were 
interspersed on the neck, and the shaft of the tail-feathers was white. Pale 
naked rings round the eyes suggested the specific name. Discovered on Behring 
Island in 1741, this fine species seems to have become extinct within about a 
century from that date. 
The darters, snake-birds, or snake-necks, form a group of four 
DHirti6rs ^ ^ 
species, readily distinguished from the cormorants by the much 
elongated body, the extraordinarily long and thick neck, and the small flat 
and narrow head, terminating in a straight, conical beak with a point as sharp 
as a dagger, and the edges of its mandibles finely serrated at the tip. The limbs 
are placed very far back on the body, and have long toes; the wings are 
elongated, but bluntly pointed, with the third quill the longest; and the 
long tail is rounded, and composed of twelve stiff feathers gradually increasing 
in width towards their tips. Both the quills and body-feathers are lustrous, 
and generally show metallic tints, those on the upper-parts being more or 
less elongated. Of the four species, one (Plotus levaillanti ) is African, another 
(P. anhinga) South American, a third (P. melanogaster ) inhabits India, Burma, 
and the Malay region, while the fourth is Australian. In the African species 
the prevailing hue of the plumage is black, with a metallic green lustre; the 
feathers of the back and wing-coverts having white shaft-streaks. The neck 
is rusty, with a blackish brown streak running backwards from the eye, and 
beneath this a line of white. The iris is generally reddish yellow, the naked 
areas on the head yellowish green, the beak horn-colour, and the foot greenish 
grey. In the female the tints are less bright. The New and Old World species, 
although externally so alike, differ remarkably in the structure of their internal 
organs. 
Darters frequent the banks of rivers, lakes, and swamps, where they may be 
found either singly, in pairs, or in immense flocks; and generally select localities 
where trees are abundant, well-wooded islands being their especial favourites. On 
the rivers of the Chobi Valley, Livingstone states that one of these birds may be 
