of the United States. 375 



narrowed and rounded at tip, end of both mandibles distinct; 

 upper mandible not covering the margins of the lower, 

 ridge broad, elevated ; nail sub-orbicular, curved, obtuse ; 

 lower plane ; marginal teeth short, conic, acute : nostrils 

 medial, lateral, longitudinal, large, elliptic, open, pervious, 

 covered by a membrane ; tongue thick, fleshy, fimbriated on 

 the sides. Head small, lora feathered ; neck moderate: body 

 cylindrical. Feet central, stout ; tarsi rather longer than 

 the middle toe; toes moderate; webs full, entire; hind toe 

 equal to a phalanx of the middle, simple, touching the ground 

 at tip ; middle toe longest ; outer longer than the inner : nails 

 falculate, the middle dilated into a sharp edge. Wings 

 moderate, acute, sometimes spurred; quills strong, primaries 

 much longer than the secondaries ; first and second, or second 

 only, longest. Tail of numerous feathers, rounded. 



Female similar to the male. Young of some species dif- 

 fering extremely from the adult, and changing repeatedly. 

 Moult annual, but protracted. Plumage moderately thick. 

 Colors dull, more or less of light, or very dark, cinereous. 

 Size large. Trachea simple. 



Habits terrestrial : keep in flocks, mostly in marshes and 

 low grounds, and migrate according to season, from cold to 

 temperate regions. Shy : cunning : vigilant : when sleeping 

 or feeding, establishing sentinels to give warning of any dan- 

 ger. Altogether diurnal. Retiring at night to the water : 

 very clamorous when uniting: go to pasture by day ; feed 

 principally on vegetables, which they nibble off, on roots and 

 seeds ; some also on fishes, reptiles, and small aquatic ani- 

 mals : commit great devastation in corn-fields, by cutting or 

 rooting up the young plants. Disposed to polygamy. Build 

 on the ground. Walk with less awkwardness than the allied 

 genera. Swim but little, and deeper in the water, neither 

 their body, feet, nor plumage being calculated for it : hardly 

 ever dive, and never by choice. Flight exceedingly high, 



