Anhinga melanogaster Pennant, Indian Zool. (1769), 13, pl. 12;
McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 39.
Plotus melanogaster Grant, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1898), 26, 414;
Blanford, Fauna Brit. Ind. Bds. (1898), 4, 344, fig. 78; Sharpe,
Hand-List (1899), 1, 236; Oates, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1902), 2, 207.
Ca-sí-li, Manila, also used for the cormorant.
Luzon (Meyer, McGregor); Mindanao (Mearns, Clemens); Mindoro
(Steere Exp., Schmacker, Bourns & Worcester, McGregor, Porter);
Negros (Layard). Mesopotamia, Indian Peninsula, Indo-Chinese
countries, Indo-Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Celebes.
"Adult male.--Chin, throat, and upper part of fore neck mottled with
white; a narrow white line, about 125 mm. long, commencing above
gape and continued down sides of neck; head and neck brown, darker
and slightly glossed on the crown and along the back of the neck,
paler down the middle of fore neck, each feather being margined with
pale brown and giving the whole a finely scaled appearance; upper
back brownish black, each feather narrowly margined with rufescent
and streaked with white on the lateral parts; rest of back, rump,
lower part of fore neck, and under parts black with an oil-green gloss;
wing-coverts, scapulars, and innermost secondaries black, each with a
long, silvery white streak down the middle; scapulars much elongated
and pointed, the longest measuring about 230 mm.; innermost secondary
transversely ribbed along the basal two-thirds of outer web; quills
and tail black, the middle pair of tail-feathers strongly ribbed on
outer web and outer pairs slightly rayed. Tail composed of twelve
feathers. 'Iris yellow; bill dusky on culmen, yellowish on sides and
on lower mandible; legs black.' (Godwin-Austen.) Length, about 890;
culmen, from feathers on forehead, 89 to 91; wing, 330 to 355; tail,
218 to 230; tarsus, 43; outer toe with claw, 81.
"The fully adult female (if the sex of several specimens in the
British Museum is correctly determined) appears to be perfectly
similar in plumage to the male, the only difference being that the
bill is decidedly shorter, 79 to 81 mm. In some females, however,
which appear to be perfectly adult, the black bases of the fore neck
and the chest are divided on either side from the back by a whitish
buff band, as in immature birds.
"Immature birds.--General color as in the adult, but neck much lighter
and of a pale brownish white, becoming white down the middle of the
fore neck; black at base of fore neck and chest bordered on each
side by a whitish buff band; streaks on the upper plumage of a more
yellowish white, long pointed scapulars absent or half developed;
quills and tail-feathers pointed and narrowly margined at the tips with
pale whitish brown; ribs on innermost scapulars and tail-feathers but
slightly indicated; back, rump, and upper tail-coverts brownish black.
"Young in down.--Head, neck, upper back, and under parts covered with
white down, amongst which the plumage of the immature is more or less
visible; quill- and tail-feathers half grown, pointed and narrowly
margined at the extremity with pale brownish white; scapulars and
wing-coverts much like those of the adult, but fringed externally
with brown. Length, 724." (Grant.)
"Exceedingly abundant about Lake Naujan in Mindoro, where it
breeds. Rarer about fresh-water streams in the interior of that
island. Not met with by us outside of Mindoro.
"Always swims with its body entirely immersed, and can remain
under water an incredibly long time. Flies with difficulty when it
first rises from water. Makes straight for some good roosting place,
preferably a stump or log in the edge of the water, where it alights,
turns its back to the sun, spreads its wings, and remains until
thoroughly dry. When dry it flies rapidly, and may often be seen
during the heat of the day soaring at a considerable height." (Bourns
and Worcester MS.)
"Very abundant on the upper waters of the Rio Grande de Cagayan in
Isabela Province, and on the upper Agusan River and its lake system
in Mindanao." (Worcester.)
The Indian darter is fairly abundant along the Baco River in Mindoro
and on the Cagayan River in the vicinity of Aparri, Luzon. Clemens
collected specimens on Lake Lanao, Mindanao.
Family SULIDÆ.
Bill stout and pointed, tapering gradually, the tip slightly curved but
never hooked; a groove along each side of culmen; nostrils completely
closed in adults; wings long and pointed, first primary longest;
tail long and wedge shaped; tarsus short and stout; outer and middle
toes nearly equal; claw of middle toe broad and pectinate.
Genus SULA Brisson, 1760.
Characters same as those given for the Family.
Species.
a1. Upper parts, head, and neck mostly pure white (adult). ... piscator
(p. 204)
a2. Upper parts uniform deep sooty brown.
b1. Breast and belly pure white (adult). ... leucogastra (p. 205)
b2. Breast and belly light brown (immature).
c1. Outer webs of flight feathers washed with hoary
gray. ... piscator (p. 204)
c2. Outer webs of flight feathers dark brown. ... leucogastra
(p. 205)