154 ANHINGA OR SNAKE-BIRD.
,death occasioned sorrow both to my friend and myself, as 'he liad given
it to me for the purpose of feeing sent to that nobleman.
Ever since I have been acquainted with the Anhinga, I have
thought that in form and habits it is intimately connected with 'the
Cormorants, and was induced to compare their manners. ti some -respects
I found them similar, in others different ; but when I discovered
that all these birds possess a remark ah le pccu ! rarity in the' structure of
their feathers, I thought that their generic affinity could not be denied.
The Anhinga has its body anil nook covered with whaigp would call
fibrous feathers, having a v'eryi.sh ndcr shaft ; while its quills and tailfeathers
are compact, that- is, perfect' in structure, strong, and elastic.
Now the'shtftp of all these latter feathers arc tubular from their bases
to their very extremities, which, in so far as I know, is not the case in
any 'other bird, excepting the Cormorants. They arc all very elastic,
like those in thé tails of our largiitt Woodpeckers, the shafts: of which,
however, axe filled with a spongy pith, as in all other land-birds, anil in
all the aquatic species which I have • examined, including Divers and
Grebes, « well as /'lungers, such us Garnets, Kings-fishers, and Fishing
Hawks. The quills and tail-ftiatlicrs of the Cormorants and Anhinga,:
in short, have the barrel as in other birds, but' the shaft kollnm, eren to
the tip, its walk being transparent, and of the same nature as the barrel.
W I L S O N , who, it is aclinoulcdged, mail« his figures from stuffed
specimensp the I'hiladelpbi» Museum, had no positive proof that the
bird which he took for a female was one, for he had not" seen the Anhinga
alive or recently killed. Even his: eôntinuator, Mr OiiRy procured
only males during his visit to the Eloridas, • But the female which
I have represented was proved to be of that sex by dissection, ami was
examined by myself nineteen- fears ago near Bayou Sara. Since that
time I have had numerous opportunities of satisfying myself as to this
point, by examining birds in various stages.
The substances which I have found in many individuals <>£ this species
were fishes of various kinds, aquatic insects, crays, leeches, shrimps,
tadpoles, eggs pf frogs, waier-lizards, young alligators, water-snakes,
and small terrapins. I never .observed- any.sfiâd or gravel in the stomach.
On some occasions Ï found it distended to the utmost, and, as
I have already stated, the bird has great powers of digestion; Its excrements
are voided in a liquid sialic and squirted to a considerable distance,
as in Cormorants, Hawks, and all birds of prey.
ANHINGA OR SNAKE-BIRD. 155
The flesh of the Anhinga-, after the bird is grown, is dark, firm, oily,
and unfit for food, with the e»eption,3f,;the smaller pectoral muscles
of the female, which are .white and delicate. The .crimpings, of the
two middle tail-feathers become more deeply marked during.the breeding
season, especially in the male. When young, the.female Am*
them opjy in a .slight degree,, and never has them so decided as the
male. 7
1 t W s Asms..», Linn. HyM. Xat, vol! L p. 218.. i,„t*. Ind. Ornith.. vol. ii. p.
895—Ci BvMpM, Synopsis of Birds of the United States, p. 411.
1 ' I . « T I : S MKT.AXOIIASTEA, Lath. Iuiii Ornith. vol. u. p. 895.
BLOTTO Am®. Ornith., vol. HT
p. 75. pi. 74, fig. 1. adult, and, p. -J2:.pl. 74, fig- 2. young;
BLACK-BELLIEI) DABTEB, XMM, Manual, vol. ii. p. 507.
Adult male. Plate CCCX VI. Fig. 1.
Bill about twice thfumgt h of the -head, almost straight, being very
slightly recurved, rather slender, compressed, tapering to a fine point.
Upper mandible with tho dorsal outline slightly decimate, and almost
Straight, being h.mevor somewhat convex, the ridge convex, gradually
narrowed, tho sides sloping, the edges sharp, end bey®11® the milidl°
cut Mi l minute slender-pointed serratures, whieh are directed backwards:;,
the tips -very slender. Lower mandible with the angle very
long, and narrow, the dorsal line: beyond it straight and ascending, the
sides Sloping slightly outwards, the edges sharp and serrated like those
of the upper, the point extremely narrow ; the gape line slightly ascending
towards the end. No external nostrils.
Head very small, oblong. Neck very long and slender. Body elongated.
and slender. Feet very short and stout. Tibia feathered to
the-joint. Tarsus very short, roundish, reticulated all over, the' scales
011 the.hind part extremely small. Toes all connected by webs; the
first of moderate length, the second much longer, the fourth longest
and slightly margined externally ; the first toe - and the first phalanges
of the rest, covered above with transverse series of- scales, the rest of
their extent ¡rcutellate. Claws rather large, very strong, compressed,
curved, very acute ; the outer smallest, the third longest, with a deep
groove on the inner side, and a narrow thin edge, cut with parallel
Slits ; those of the first and second toes nearly equal.
There is a bare space at the base of the upper mandible, including