152 



SUBKI^GDOM VERTEBBATA. 



secures by straining through its lamellae* Its plumage is a 



deep scarlet on the back, 

 and roseate on the wings. 

 It builds a hillock of mud 

 as high as its body, and 

 on the top makes its nest 

 and lays its eggs, its long 

 legs hanging down on 

 each side. 



Anatidae. The Ducks 

 have the legs short, with 

 the hind toe separate, and 

 the bill covered with soft, 

 sensitive skin, and highly 

 lamellated, to filter the 

 ooze in which they feed. 

 Flamingo. A . They are c i ose .feathered, 



and keep the plumage well oiled, so as to dive without get- 

 ting wet. 



The Swan's\ neck, 

 unlike the Flamin- 

 go's, is in no propor- 

 tion to the length of 

 its legs, but is adapt- 

 ed to a swimmer 

 that never dives, yet 

 feeds upon aquatic 

 roots. The stroke 

 of its wing is power- 

 ful enough to frac- Cygnus buccinator^ Trumpeter Swan. 



Mg. 



* Its tongue is very fleshy, and, during the days of Rome's extravagance, her 

 gluttons were wont to parade a dish composed of flamingoes 1 tongues. 



t The two species of Swans in America are easily distinguished, the Cygnus buc- 

 cinator not having the orange or yellowish spot in front of the eye which is so char- 

 acteristic of C. americanus. 



$ The voice of C. buccinator is remarkably raucous in comparison with that of 

 C. americanus, though each has the convolution of the trachea in the keel of the 

 sternum, like that of the whooping-crane. 



