$Unique_ID{BRD00689}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{Genus II.--Plotus, Linn.  Anhinga}
$Subject{Pelecaninae; Plotus; Anhinga}
$Journal{Birds of America:  Volume VI}
$Volume{Vol. 6:442}
$Family{Pelecaninae}
$Genus{Plotus}
$Species{}
$Common_Name{Anhinga}
$Log{
Family*00682.txt}

       Portions copyright (c) Creative Multimedia Corp., 1990-91, 1992

                       B I R D S   O F   A M E R I C A .

                   By John James Audubon, F. R. SS.  L. & E.

                   ------------------------------------------
                                   VOL.  VI.
                        --------------------------------


                       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; gap-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; oesophagus 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
coeca, but a small rounded termination to the rectum.