420 LAMELLIROSTRAL SWIMMERS — ANSERES. 



Aiiserinse. Neck moderately long (shorter than the body) ; size variable (usually medium, 

 never very large) ; bill not longer than the head, tapering to the end, wliicli is chiefly 

 occupied by the large, broad nail ; tarsus longer than the middle toe ; lores leathered ; 

 tail -feat hers 14-20 ; color extremely varial>le. 



Anatiiiae. Neck moderately long (shorter than the body) ; size variable (usually small or 

 medium); bill extremely variable; tarsus shorter than the middle toe; lores usually 

 feathered ; tail-feathers 14-18 ; color extremely variable. 



Sub-family CYGNINiE, Bonapakte. — The Swans.* 



** 1838. — Cijgnincc, Bp. Conip. List, ]). 55. 

 1850. — Cygnidce, Kaup {fide Gray). 

 1852. — Olorince, Eeiciib. Syst. Av. p. x. 

 1860. — Gycnidce, Des Murs, Tr. Ool. Ornith. p. 537. 



" DiAGN. Anatidce having the hind toe without web and the lores nahed, coincident loith reticulate 

 tarsi, the latter shorter than the middle with the claw. 



" Neck very long, as long as, or longer than, the body. Bill longer than the head, broad, and 

 of nearly e(|ual Ijreadth for the whole length, rounded at the end, culmen high, depressed at the 

 tip ; nail rather large, only slightly arched ; lamellae of upper mandible vertical, in one row ; 

 nostrils situated nearly at the middle of the bill, in the fore part of the oblong nasal sinus. Lores 

 naked in the adults ; in all species, except one, thinly covered with small down or feathers in the 

 young. Legs short, stout ; lower part of tibia naked ; tarsi compressed, much shorter than the 

 middle toe with the claw, and covered with small hexagonal plates, the size of which diminishes 

 laterally and posteriorly ; the anterior toes reticulate as far as the second joint, then scutellate ; 

 middle toe longest, longer than the tarsus, the outer longer than the inner, which has a broad 

 margin ; hind toe short, elevated, and without welj, the claws strong, arched, compressed, except 

 the middle, which is only compressed on the one side, the claw of the inner toe in old birds the 

 largest and most arched. Wings long, amj^le, the inner remiges highly develojDed, with about 32 

 c^uills. Tail composed of 20-24 rectrices, short, rounded, or cuneate. 



" Sexes similar. 



" The preceding marks combined appear to express the essential characters of the Cygnina;. By 

 this diagnosis I follow Mr. Sundevall in excluding the genus Coscoroha, Reichb., which has the 

 lores feathered at all ages. . . . The removal of Coscoroha to the Anatinai will be discussed more 

 explicitly below. The criterion ' tarsi reticulate ' further excludes the genera Cairina, Flem., 

 and Plectrnpterits, Leach, which, it is true, have the lores naked, but the tarsi of which are scutel- 

 late instead of reticulate. A7isei'anas, Less., has certainly Ijoth naked lores an<l reticulate tarsi, but 

 diS'ers in having the tarsus longer than the middle toe with claw. 



" Anatidre which do not at once unite all the above characters consequently belong to one of 

 the other siib-families." 



" Synopsis of the Genera. 



a^. Predominant color of the adults white ; young with downy or feathered lores ; tertiaries and 

 scapulars normal, not crisp; tail longer than the middle toe with claw. 

 6^. Tail cuneate ; the young with the down on the sides of the bill not forming loral antiaj.t 

 c^. Inner webs of outer four primaries and outer webs of the second, third, fourth, and 

 fifth sinuated ; the young with the down on the sides of the bill reaching almost 

 to the nostrils ; webs of the feet scalloped. 



* In the preparation of this article on the Ci/gnince much use has been made of the very valuable 

 " Outlines of a Monograph of the Cygnina',,'' by Dr. Leonliard Stejneger, published in Vol. 5 of the 

 "Proceedings of the U. S. National Museum," pp. 174-221. The matter taken directly therefrom is 

 inclo.sed in quotation marks. 



t This temi denotes the projecting angle of the loral feathering at the base of the bill. 



