lOSJ BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



Order ANSERES.— the Lamellirostral Swimmers. 



Characters. Lamellirostral swimming birds, with straight bills, short legs (always 

 shorter than the wing), the tibiae usually completely feathered, and scarcely free from the 

 body ; hallux well developed, though usually small, never absent. Reproduction prsecocial, 

 and young ptilopasdic; eggs numerous and unmarked, with a hard, usually very smooth, 

 shell. 



Bill flattened terminally, and provided at the tip with a more or less hooked nail or 

 "unguis", and along the edges with distinct vertical lamella? or strainers (more tooth-like 

 in the subfamily Mergince). 



The Order Anseres is composed mainly of a single family {Anat- 

 idw), 1 which, however, includes very numerous genera and species. 

 The order is represented in every portion of the globe, but most 

 numerously in the northern hemisphere. It is allied most nearly 

 to the orders Phmdcopteri (Flamingoes) and Palamedm 

 (Screamers), the former Tropicopolitan, the latter confined to 

 the central portion of the Neotropical Region. 



'Extralimital families, are (1) Anse.rantidcp (Semipalmated Geese), and (2) Cereopsic'ce 

 (Capo Barren Geese), both peculiar to Australia. 



