ANHINGA; SNAKE BIRD
118. Anhinga anhinga. 35 in.
Adult male with a glossy greenish-black head, neck and underparts, the
neck being covered behind, in breeding season, with numerous
filamentous, whitish plumes. Female and young with neck and breast fawn
color in front. Eyes red, face greenish and gular pouch orange. Middle
tail feathers curiously crimped. These peculiar birds spend their lives
within the recesses of swamps, the more dismal and impenetrable, the
better. They perch on limbs overhanging the water and dive after fish,
frogs, lizards, etc., that pass beneath, from which they get one of
their names, American Darter. They swim with the body submerged, with
only their serpent-like head and neck visible; hence they are called
Snake-birds.
Nest.—Of sticks and leaves in bushes or trees over water, large colonies
of them nesting in the same swamp. The 3 to 5 eggs are bluish, covered
with a chalky deposit (2.25 × 1.35).
Range.—Breeds north to the Carolinas and Ill. Winters in Gulf States.
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