CHAPTER V 



THE TOTIPALMATE BIRDS, HERONS, STORKS, AND 



FLAMINGOES 



Orders— STEGANOPODES, CICONI/E, AND 

 PHOENICOPTERI 



The birds which form the subject of this chapter comprise a number of 

 distinct groups which, at first sight, seem perhaps to have but little in 

 common, for, in the first place, while some are web-footed, others are 

 not. As a matter of fact, however, a study of their anatomy shows 

 that they are all closely related one to another. 



THE TOTIPALMATE BIRDS 



The birds which are known as the Totipalmate, or Steganopodous, 

 birds were grouped together by the 

 older naturalists because they differed 

 from all other web-footed birds in 

 that all the four toes are united by 

 a continuous web, whereas in all 

 other web-footed birds the hind-toe, 

 when present, is free. The labours 

 of later workers have shown that 

 this association was justified. 



The best known of these Toti- 

 palmate birds are the Cormorants 

 and Gannets. 



The Common Cormorant (Plate III. fig. 4) is a bird which enjoys 

 a very wide distribution over the earth's surface, being common all 



41 6 



Fig. 13.— Foot of a Cormorant, to 

 show the totipalmate condition 

 —all four toes united in a com = 

 mon web. 



