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This is only being passed on because I know there are a couple
of people out there interested in terminological trivia. Nowadays we are
told there are only two species in the Anhingidae, known respectively, with
pleasing brevity, as 'Anhinga' and 'Darter' (the Oriental/Australasian
bird). 'Anhinga', we are told, was the Tupi (Brazilian) Indian name
for an evil spirit of the woods - sometimes referred to as 'the devil
bird'. "The name was first used as an English substantive name in 1818 for
the Afrotropical darter" - ie for our species, not the American one it now
applies to. However, the current official title of the South American
sub-species is indeed Anhinga Anhinga anhinga anhinga.
For anyone wondering about the unusually realistic depiction
of the above imaginary scene, the left-hand component is from that epic of
Amazonian adventure "Exploration Fawcett", the original photograph being
labelled "Brian Fawcett with Comatzi, chief of the Kalapalos", while on
the right we have Audubon's representation of the North American sub-species,
now Anhinga anhinga leucogaster, which Audubon called a
'water-turkey'.
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