CHAPTER XXXV. 

 LAMELLIROSTRES. 



Duck-like and Geese-like birds Praecocial Birds. 



This is the order of the swans, the flamingoes, the 

 ducks, and the geese. The bill of all the New- World 

 ducks and geese is lamellate with a membranous covering, 

 at least the greater part of the bill has such a covering; 

 the edges of the bill are denticulate in the grass-eaters 

 and sharp-toothed in the fish-eating sorts. The feet 

 are palmate, three of the toes being joined by webbings; 

 the hind toe is elevated, rarely absent. The wings are of 

 medium size and spread, and the tail is, in most of the 

 birds, short and many- feathered. The legs are near 

 the center of equilibrium, and the body is held nearly 

 or quite horizontal in walking. The young of all the 

 birds are praecocial, and many of the birds are polyg- 

 amous, though this is true of the domestic sorts much 

 more than of the wild birds. 



Of these birds, the ducks are world- wide in distri- 

 bution, and they naturally fall into five sub-orders : the 

 Mergansers or fish ducks; the pond or river ducks; the 

 bay or sea ducks; the geese; and the swans. These 

 differences are based upon structural characteristics 

 quite as much as upon the places of habitation ; but these 

 structural differences are rather the apparent reasons for 

 the birds' choice of these haunts ; the lines are not hard and 

 fast, however, for there are some sorts of all the kinds 



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