276 KEY AND DESCRIPTION 



low bays or mud flats, usually near the sea, and with the bill 

 in the soil procure their food, which consists in great part of 

 mollusks and crustaceans. In flying, the neck and legs are 

 stretched out at full length. 



Length, 45 ; wing, 10 ; tail, 6 ; tarsus, 1.3 ; culmen, 5^. Atlantic coast 

 of the warmer parts ot America ; southern Florida. 



ORDER XIII. LAMELLIROSTRAL OR TOOTH- 

 BILLED SWIMMERS lANSERES) 



An order consisting of the following : 



FAMILY L. DUCKS, GEESE, AM) SWANS (ANATID^) 



Tills, the largest family (200 species) of swimming birds, 



comprises all our domestic water fowl as Avell as an important 



portion of the gunner's prey. Their feathers form the softest 



material for our pillows and couches, and their flesh the most 



^ l)alatable of foods. Tliese birds are readily separated 



^:^^ into five easily recognized groups or subfamilies, viz : 



/ ^^^ swans, geese, sea ducks, river ducks, and fish ducks. 



They are all furnished with ridges or teeth along the 



edges of the bill,^ which in most cases serve as strainers 



for removing the mud, sand, etc., from the food; in a few 



cases they serve as teeth. 



(1) The Swans, which are the largest of these birds, form the 

 smallest group (10 species). They are large, very long-necked, 

 white (adult), gracefully swimming birds, with a stripe of 

 bare skin extending from the eye to the bill. Because of 

 the position of the legs, far back along the body, their move- 

 ments on land are very awkward. In feeding they do not 

 dive, but merely tip up the body, or usually simi)ly thrust the 

 head and neck under water. Their food is in good part vege- 

 table, but they eat snails also. Nos. 1 and 2. 



(2) The Geese form a group intermediate between the swans 

 and the ducks. They are large, long-necked, comparatively 

 long-legged birds, with the space in front of the eye feathered. 



