132 ANHINGA OR SNAKE-BIRD.
would 00cm its TiuiriiU to suffer the little W t o thrust itsiwhole head
down the throat of 8 •'Brother, from whic» it would receive the -fish
that'the"latter had! previouSly'swallowed. In this-singUlar manner did
the larger bird, which affer'awhile proved t o be « male,; continue to act
as if the foster-parent of his littlefefei? in d 8 e d s e eme d to b e
thrown ' u p § his protection. The <ft still g mif ^ s f e « ^ « fed
on fish, which it picks up, tossfes a few timeMm ffie air, and swallows
a t «he first confident opportunity tot is ftSfe the fish M s towards
Ms mouth headforemost. At the onset, w i t e t o f l s h was latge, BHtfiit
cut i n t o ^ e l ' t h i n l o n g fBtfflfe apparent slenderne^of tKetod' s meek
could not expand enough to swalUnvit whole ;^fuf 1 s e n ascertain«,! that
I f e w a s unnecessary. Pish three times O l f a e « t h e neck were tffsfed '
inthe expandedj J f e and gobbled at once, andmmediatelyaf ter , f l»bt t d
an 'uiiequiviical manner
that I $Ver fatledito grvcMt ttrore My fronisi|W
— and followed me ,iboUt the House; the
yard, and garden, unt i l -Mfeugh! i t quite t f tat ioMf e in consequence
' of- its peculiar attaching M The^givefi'to o^r friend was,
fed on fish and raw^ecf but although it grew to its fall size, never
• 1 - to thrive as w4ll as the H had,- a n d " * ' d i e d ' o f »an af-
• — This was a female/ and
*ifi'''edlour than the adult of'the s a m e * « ? two feathers of.
H tail were H g W B ^ i W l Q K 3 'we«' the same.
I — |f e q W f f y car r iedHtgp'ond, H H |
t h a t i t ' w o u l d relish "tnl water, and would m heal tMbut I invariably
found i t to scramble towards • sho¥e a« H | as M B as
if dreading — m which at w a s n a t a i e destined to live
When thrown i n » pond, it usually div'ed at once, M g M B M m~
stairt arose'1'o the surface, ^ H ^ H H H H
Aon duck. It is a fearless'bird, keepinj at bay the hWand'tuikeys
in the yard, M M Bptamg W M M H j g | | i |
dealing blow, • and loft with it , sharp bill, and occasionally g j g g
'itself at the trough where they are f e d , H B H H
morsel 'of food t i f f he 'hais ' t a n k e d them s u f f i c i e n t l y , « ^ leaves
ihem to s&are -ifhatever h e does not hiniielf relish. • • •
• I It was not until my bird was fally fledged that I found it willing
or anxious to — I water, and then,'whenever it saw H |
ward the pol.1] it accompanied n,e as & a^ M gate of iho g a r d e n V ^
ANHINGA OR SNAKE-BIRD.
153
M B — — mm mm
foUowedme waddling along life® a duck, and no sooner was rag sight of
i
e, , a div,s but by dropping from a p,ank into
While I would swim, like a duck,, then, dipping | long ne k, it would
• • purpose of p r o v i n g fish. The water was clea, enough
to e n a b l e to s,e * its movements,
it would emerge at the distance^ forty or fifty yards.. This | |
sleeps in thaopen air during warm nights, perehed o n H
of the f e n c e , ' " ^ i its head under its .wmgs, placed- t h e r e froniaboV, i t s
back, a n d « rainy weather, it often.,,its in the W M p^t ioa.for nearly
B B day. It appears | be very susceptible of
to the kitchen and near • fire, battling with the d o g s , ^ the cooks fo
W — 1 on ,the • • B H mm mm • fflHHBflB • 1
with our warmest sunny days. Who,, walking and ocoas.onally hopping,
it does not support itself by the tail, as Cormorants sometimes • • • • • I g&i HBH1
greedily; but H I c a n n o t . b e , procured,, we are forced
1 meat, when it o p e n s ^ mouth, and receives B H |
Occasionally i t has spent several days without H food; —
fcsHes the bird,became very troublesome, harassing all, around by its n -
„ t t crootogs, and giving blows to the servants, as if to remrnd
them of theirsnegleot-i n • . ' .
" Onee it made itgiescape, and flsw off about a quarter of a «
the pond. .Some • happening to be tore in a can,», the bird approached
them with open mouth, for it was hwg r y and wanted food.
rP
They seeing,i such a strange creature pursuing them H H H H g |
what AiUc that of a snake, H B B paddledfor to ,J«; but
mv bird followed j a their wake, and landed as soon as thi^y .did. They
now fled-« to hojise, where the Anhinga also arrived and was re-
• • M M of to family, who sent it back to me;
and I to prevent its tarther escape or 1®,, clipped one of its wings ,
. 1 saw the-bird., above mentioned at my friend's house at Charleston
in the Winter of 1836, when on my way fo to Gulf of Mexico, a*d
liatl many opportunities of watching; its habits. It was killed by a
beautifol retriever presented to me by the EAU, O* and its