724 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — STEGANOPODES. 
style in the nape, in the position of the ligamentum nuche of many animals, and articulated with 
the occiput, isthe most remarkable (fig. 505). It occurs in the Anhinga also, but is there much 
smaller. The desmognathous structure is seen in its highest development; the palatines being 
not only soldered, but sending down a keel along their line of union; the interorbital septum is 
very defective, with hori- 
zontal inferior border (a 
general character of the 
order except in the Peli- 
eans). The sternum and 
shoulder - girdle, and the 
knee, are shown in figs. 504, 
502. In the knee-joint, 
there is a bulky free patella, 
coexistent with a short ene- 
mial apophysis or rotular 
process of the tibia, but per- 
fectly distinet therefrom, as 
in Podiceps. The muscles 
of the legs are as in Sulide. 
The pterylosis agrees essen- 
tially with the ordinal ptery- 
lographie characters, but the 
plumage is peculiar in cer- 
tain details. Excepting a 
few speckled species, and 
some others that are largely white below, 
the plumage is glossy or lustrous black, often 
highly iridescent with green, purple, and violet 
tints, commonly uniform on the head, neck, and 
Fic. 503.— The nest of the Cormorant (P. bicris- wnder parts, but on the back and wing-coverts, 
talus): (Desienediiy ei een.) where the feathers are sharp-edged and distinct, 
the shade is more apt to be coppery or bronzy, each feather with well-defined darker border. 
This concerns, however, only the adult plumage, which is the same in both sexes; the young 
are plain brownish or blackish. The Cormorants have other special featherings, generally of 
a temporary character, assumed at the breeding season and lost soon after; these are curious 
