OF ORNITHOLOGy 38 



eluded also anioni>' our Terrestrial Birds). The jiresent Order 

 5 CoLi'MB.K moreover belougs to them. It was thus, for- 

 merly, the great questiou of the day as to how to reeoncile all 

 these inconsistencies. By rejecting entirely the old systetns 

 and substituting the neir this now becomes possible]. 



The young student will notice how difficult it is to charac- 

 terize, with any degree of exactness, the various divisions in 

 Ornithology ; the difficulty will increase rather than diminish 

 as he progresses. As he becomes familiar with the individu- 

 als from which the characters of these divisions are drawn, 

 however, the matter will appear to him in a new light, and his 

 difficulties will decrease with experience. 



We now come to the iklrd Sub-class, the Aquatic or Water 

 Birds, usually called the Xatatores or Sivumners. Estab- 

 lished usage still separates these into what we may call, 



Division A ANSERES and 



Division B GAVI-ffi 



The latter (Division B) are called Altrices, or Birds that 

 rear their young in nests and feed them ; the former (Division 

 A) are called PrvECOCES, or birds whose young run about and 

 procure their own food almost from the moment they are 

 hatched from the egg. To make these characteristics a basis 

 upon which to divide the remaining birds would be useless, 

 as our present system is so clear and well-defined on these 

 points. 



ORDER VIII LAMELLIROSTRES 



Latin lidniini. "a tliin plate or layer : and mstnun. the lieak. 

 Bill with that peculiar arrangement of layers or plates along 

 its edge called lamella', resembling somewhat *' the teeth of a 

 .saw," as the Latin gives it — It is recognized instantly by the 

 student. The greater portion of the bill is membranaceous. 

 Feet palmate ; hind toe elevated (sometimes absent) and free. 

 The great assemblage of Swans, Geese, and Diicks^ form the 

 principal and almost entire portion of this order. 



