Part 146

Phalacrocorax Floridanus, Florida Cormorant, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iii. p. 387; v. v. p. 632.

419. 4. Phalacrocorax Townsendi, Aud. Townsend's Cormorant.

Plate CCCCXII. Fig. 2. Male.

Tail of twelve feathers; plumage of the neck and sides interspersed with linear white feathers: bill yellow, with the ridge brown; gular sac and bare skin on the head bright orange; upper part of head and hind neck dusky, tinged with green; hind part of back greenish-black; the rest of the upper parts brownish-grey, each feather edged with black; quills brownish-grey, similarly edged with black; outer primaries and tail-feathers black; sides of the head, fore part of neck, and breast light yellowish-brown; the middle of the neck in front darker, the sides, abdomen, and tibial feathers shaded into brownish-black, tinged with green. This description from a single individual shot on the 8th of October. Another individual, apparently a bird in its first plumage, has the head and upper part of the fore neck darker, the middle of the breast lighter, the feathers on the back margined with greyish-brown, and an inner band of dark brown; its bill is longer, but more slender, the unguis less curved, the feathers not entirely obliterated from the space before the eye, and extending farther on the gular sac.

Male, 35, wing 12-1/2; tail 6-3/4.

Cape Disappointment, Columbia River. Common.

Phalacrocorax Townsendi, Townsend's Cormorant, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. v. p. 149.

420. 5. Phalacrocorax resplendens, Aud. Violet-green Cormorant.

Plate CCCCXXII. Fig. 1. Female.

Bill scarcely as long as the head, slender, dusky; tail of twelve feathers; gular sac and bare skin on the head, bright orange; plumage silky and splendent, deep green, seeming black in some lights and bright green and purple in others, the somewhat compact feathers of the back edged with dark purple; along the sides of the neck and the hind part of the sides of the body, numerous white piliform feathers terminated by a pencil of filaments; quills and tail-feathers brownish-black and less glossy. This description from an individual shot in October.

Female, 27; wing 10; tail 5-1/2.

Cape Disappointment, near Columbia River. Abundant.

Violet-green Cormorant, Phalacrocorax resplendens, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. v. p. 148.

GENUS II. PLOTUS, Linn. ANHINGA.

Bill about twice the length of the head, almost straight, being very slightly recurved, rather slender, compressed, tapering to a fine point; upper mandible with the dorsal line slightly declinate, very slightly convex, the ridge convex, gradually narrowed, the sides sloping, the edges sharp, and beyond the middle cut into minute slender-pointed serratures directed backwards, the tip acuminate; 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, the point extremely narrow; gape-line ascending towards the end. No external nostrils in the adult. Head very small, oblong; neck very long and slender; body elongated and slender. Feet very short and stout; tibia feathered to the point; tarsus very short, roundish, reticulated; toes all connected by webs, the first of moderate length, the fourth longest, the first toe and the first phalanges of the rest with transverse series of scales; the rest of their extent scutellate. Claws rather large, very strong, compressed, curved, very acute, the third with parallel slits on the inner edge. A bare space at the base of the upper mandible, including the eye; skin of the throat bare and dilated, as in the Cormorants. Plumage close, blended, silky, the feathers oblong; scapulars elongated, lanceolate, compact, the outer web of the largest undulated. Wings of moderate length and breadth; third quill longest, inner secondaries elongated and resembling the posterior scapulars. Tail very long, narrow, of twelve straight feathers, having very strong shafts, and increasing in breadth to the end. Tongue a slight oblong knob; œsophagus very wide; proventricular glands placed on the right side in the form of a globular sac; stomach roundish, of moderate size, rather thin, with its inner coat soft and smooth; a large roundish pyloric lobe; intestine long and very slender; no cœca, but a small rounded termination to the rectum.

421. 1. Plotus anhinga, Linn. American Anhinga.--Snake-Bird.

Plate CCCXVI. Male and Female.

Upper mandible dusky, lower bright yellow; gular sac orange; tarsus and toes dusky olive, the hind parts and webs yellow; general colour of head, neck, and body, glossy blackish-green, of the scapulars, wings, and tail, glossy bluish-black; long loose feathers on the neck purplish-white; lower part of neck behind marked with very numerous minute oblong spots of white, forming two broad bands, extending backwards, and gradually becoming more elongated, there being one along the centre of each feather, including the scapulars; smaller wing-coverts similarly marked with broader white spots disposed in regular rows; first row of small coverts and secondary coverts white, excepting a portion of the inner web; five elongated secondaries marked with a narrow white band; occupying the inner half of the outer web; tail-feathers tipped with a band of brownish-red fading into white. Female with only a few inconspicuous elongated feathers on the neck; upper part of head and hind neck dull greenish-brown, lighter on the lower part; fore part of neck pale reddish-brown, tinged with grey, lighter on the throat, that colour extending over part of the breast, and terminating abruptly in a transverse band of deep reddish-chestnut; the other parts as in the male, only the fore part of the back is tinged with brown, and its spots are less distinct.

Male, 35-3/4, 44. Female, 34, 43.

Constant resident from Florida to Georgia; in summer as far east as North Carolina, and up the Mississippi to Natchez. Common.

Plotus Anhinga, Bonap. Syn. p. 411.

Black-bellied Darter, Plotus melanogaster, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. ix. p. 75.

Black-bellied Darter, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 507.

Anhinga or Snake-Bird, Plotus Anhinga, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iv. p. 136.

GENUS III. TACHYPETES, Vieill. FRIGATE BIRD.

Bill longer than the head, strong, broader than high, unless towards the curved extremity; upper mandible with its dorsal line slightly concave, at the tip decurved, its ridge broad and nearly flat at the base, narrowed and more convex towards the end, the sides separated from the ridge by a narrow groove, convex, the edges sharp, direct, irregularly jagged, with a prominence at the commencement of the curve at the elongated, compressed, tapering, decurved point; lower mandible with the angle extremely long, narrow, the membrane bare and dilatable into a small pouch, the very short dorsal line decurved, the sides erect at the base, convex in the rest of their extent, the edges sharp, much inflected, irregularly jagged, at the tip narrow and decurved. Nostrils basal, linear, inconspicuous. Head of moderate size, oblong; neck of moderate length, stout; body rather slender. Feet very short, stout; tibia very short; tarsus extremely short, feathered; toes all placed in the same plane, and connected by short deeply emarginate webs, which run out narrow along the sides, scutellate above, first small, second shorter than fourth, third much longer. Claws strong, compressed, curved, acute, that of the third toe long, with the inner edge pectinate. Plumage compact, glossy; feathers of the head, neck, and back lanceolate. Wings extremely long, pointed, the first quill longest; the rest rapidly diminishing; secondaries very short, the inner long and tapering. Tail very long, deeply forked, of twelve feathers. Tongue exceedingly small, fleshy, flattened; œsophagus very wide; proventricular glands forming a complete belt; stomach very small, roundish, its muscular coat thin, the inner soft and corrugated; no pyloric lobe; intestine of moderate length; cœca extremely small; cloaca globular.

422. 1. Tachypetes Aquilus, Linn. Frigate-Bird.--Man-of-war Bird.

Plate CCLXXI. Male.