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Yangtae Valley. They are usually 

 seen singly or in small groups on the 

 inland pools and marshes. 



Notes. — Its call is a ' low whistling 

 cry ' though when several are resting 

 together on the water, they frequently 

 quack much like the large river-ducks. 



Mergus serrator L., Eed-breasted 

 Merganser is a less common Winter 

 visitant in the Yangtse Valley. 



ORDER, FALCONIFORMES, FALCON-LIKE 

 BIRDS. 



Typically these are birds of robust 

 size with jpowerful wings which 

 enable them to pursue and capture 

 other birds or swift-moving animals. 

 Most of them have short, but very 

 strong bills with strongly arched tip 

 and sharp cutting edges. The feet are 

 strong, provided, in most cases, with 

 long, curved, sharp claws. In those 

 which feed on carrion, however, the 

 claws are often weaker and more blunt. 



Another distinguishing feature is the 

 cere, which is a peculiar membrane 

 sheathing the base of the upper 

 mandible. 



There are only two other important 

 groups of birds possessing the hooked 

 bill and the cere, namely the Owls 

 and the Parrots. 



Family, Falconldae, The Falcons. 



In the Falcons, the hind toe is 

 shorter than the lateral pair. The 

 bill is strong, broad at the base ; the 

 upper mandible has a prominent tooth 

 and the lower one a corresponding 

 notch. The nostril is a small round or 



