20QO 



FLAMINGOES, DUCKS, AND SCREAMERS 



attached to the outer side of the wrist joint; and as they differ in 

 g several important points from the other members of the order, they con- 

 stitute a subfamily by themselves, some writers even making them the 

 representatives of a distinct family. The lores are naked, and the metatarsus is covered 

 in front with large scutes, thus differing in both these characteristics from the geese. 

 The beak is of considerable length and of nearly equal width throughout, termina- 

 ting in a nail-like knob, and having at its base a large protuberance. In the adult 

 the front of the head is bare and warty, and the cheeks and part of the neck are 







SPUR-WINGED GOOSE. 

 (One-sixth natural size.) 



also naked. The leg is of considerable length, with the lower part of the tibia bare, 

 the metatarsus wide and compressed,, and the first toe relatively long, simple, and 

 elevated, the front webs being somewhat deeply incised. In the common P. gam- 

 bensis the plumage of the upper parts and the sides of the breast is black, tinged 

 with coppery green; the wings are mottled with white, the abdomen white with 

 patches of black behind the thighs, the naked parts of the face reddish, and the 

 beak and legs reddish and orange yellow. In size the bird nearly equals the 



