PALMIPEDES. 419 



A few species or varieties only are known, whose white plu- 

 mage is more or less varied with blackish, and which are not 

 larger than Pigeons.(l) 



FAMILY IV. 



LAMELLIROSTRES. 



In this family we find a thick bill, invested with a soft 

 skin rather than with true horn; its edges are furnished with 

 laminsB or little teeth ; the tongue is broad and fleshy, the 

 edges notched. The wings are of a moderate length. They 

 pass more of their time on fresh waters than at sea. The tra- 

 chea of the male, in the greater number, is inflated near its 

 bifurcation into capsules of various forms. The gizzard is 

 large and very muscular, the cseca long. The great genus, 



Anas, Lin. 



Comprises those Palmipedes, the edges of whose large and broad 

 bill are furnished with a range of thin salient laminse, placed 

 transversely, which appear destined to allow the water to pass off 

 when the bird has seized its prey. They are divided into three sub- 

 genera, whose limits, however, are not very precise. 



Cygnus, Meyer. 

 The bill of the Swans is of an equal breadth throughout, higher 

 at base than it is wide; the nostrils about the middle of its length; 

 the neck is very long. They are the largest birds of the genus, and 

 feed chiefly on the seeds and roots of aquatic plants. Their intes- 

 tines and cseca in particular are consequently very long. There is 

 no inflation of the trachea. Two species are found in Europe, 



dnas olot\ Gm.; Cigne d bee rouge, En!. 913. (The Red-billed 

 or Domestic Swan.) Beak red, edged with black, surmounted 

 at base by a rounded protuberance; the plumage snow-white. 

 When young, the beak is lead-coloured and the plumage, grey. 

 This is the species, when domesticated, that forms the orna- 

 ment of our ponds and grounds. Its elegance of form, graceful 

 movements, and snow-white plumage have rendered it the em- 

 blem of innocence and beauty. It feeds both on fish and vege- 



(1) Phxet. aetherius, Enl. 369 and 998; PA. pJueiucurus, Enl. 979, VieiU. Gal. 

 pi. 279. 



