Length to end of tail 35-3/4 inches, to end of wings 30-1/4, to end of claws 28-1/2, to carpus 17-1/2; extent of wings 44; wing from flexure 14; tail 11-1/2; bill along the ridge 3-1/4, along the edge of lower mandible 3-10/12; tarsus 1-4/12; hind toe 11/12, its claw 6/12; second toe 1-9/12, its claw (5-1/2)/12; third toe 2-5/12, its claw 8/12; fourth toe 2-(4-1/2)/12, its claw (5-3/4)/12. Weight 3-1/4 lb. Adult Female. Plate CCCXVI. Fig. 2. The female has the plumage similar in texture to that of the male, but only a few inconspicuous elongated feathers on the neck. The bill is lighter than in the male, the naked part around the eye darker, the eye and gular sac as in the male; as are the feet. The upper part of the head and the hind neck are dull greenish-brown, lighter at the lower part, the fore part of the neck is pale reddish-brown, tinged with grey, lighter on the throat; this colour extends over part of the breast, an inch and a half beyond the carpal joint, and terminates abruptly in a transverse band of deep reddish-chestnut; the rest of the lower parts as in the male, as are the upper, only the fore part of the back is tinged with brown, and its spots less distinct. Length to end of tail 34 inches, to end of wings 29-1/4, to end of claws 27-1/2; to carpal joint 16-1/4; extent of wings 43. Weight 2 lb. 15 oz. In external appearance and habits, the Snake-bird is very nearly allied to the Cormorants. The structure of the feet is essentially the same in both genera, as is that of the wings and tail, the latter however being more elongated in the Anhinga, in correspondence with the neck. If one might suppose a small Cormorant elongated and attenuated, with the feet rather enlarged but shortened, the head diminished in size, and the bill formed more on the model of that of a Heron, being destitute of the distinct ridge and curved unguis, he would form a pretty correct notion of this bird. Not only is the bill like that of a Heron, but the vertebræ of the neck are very similar to those of that family, and form the same abrupt curvatures between the seventh and eighth vertebræ. But all the other bones are those of the Cormorants and Pelicans. The sternum in particular is almost precisely similar to that of the Crested Cormorant, so that without entering very minutely into its description, no differences could be pointed out.