PALMIPEDES. 375 



farther back, smaller wings, a stiffer tail, more compressed tarsi, longer 

 toes, and the membrane of the feet more entire. They walk with more 

 difficulty, feed more exclusively on fish and insects, and dive more fre- 

 quently*. Among them we may distinguish the 



OiDEMiA, OR THE Macreuses OR Sea-Ducks («), Fleming, 

 By the breadth and inflation of the bill. 



Anas nigra, L. ; La Macreuse communr, Enl. 972; Naum. 

 Supp. 14, f. 28 and 29; Brit. Zool. pi. U; Wils. VIII, Ixxii, 2, 

 (the Scoter), is all black, greyish when young; the bill very broad, 

 with a protuberance on its base. It is found in large flocks on the 

 coast of France, where it feeds chiefly on muscles. The An. cine- 

 raceibs, Naum. I, c. 60, f. 91, 92, is the young female. 



An fusca, L. ; La double Macreuse, Enl. 956 ; Frisch, 1 65 .; 

 Naum. 1, c. Supp. f. 15 and 16; Wils. LXXII, 3 (the Velvet 

 Duck), diff'ers in its superior size, a white spot on the wing, and a 

 white streak under the eye. There is a circular vertically flattened 

 inflation in the middle of its trachea. 



An. perspicillata, L. ; Enl. 995; Edw. 155; Wils. VIII, Ixvii, 

 1. (The Black Duck). Some white on the occiput and behind the 

 neck; the naked and yellow skin of the base of the bill also sur- 

 rounds the eyes. 



New Holland produces a speckled species, remarkable for a large 

 fleshy appendage that hangs under its bill, An. lobata, Nat. Misc., 

 VIII, pi. 255, and Col. 406 f • 

 We may also separate 



Clangula, Leach. 



In which the bill is short and narrower towards the end ; and place first 

 on the list those species the middle quills of whose tail are the longest, 

 which renders it pointed. Such are 



An. glacialis, L., Enl. 1008; Edw. 280; Naum. 52, f. 76; 

 Wils. VIII, Ixx, 1, 2; the young male, Enl. 999; Naum. 52, f. 

 76, B; the adult in wedding livery, Edw. 156. (The Sarcelle 

 Duck). White ; a fawn-coloured spot on the cheek and side of the 

 neck ; breast, back, tail, and part of the wing, black. Of all the 

 European Ducks, this has the shortest bill. Its trachea, ossified 

 near the root, has on one side five square membranous spaces re- 

 sembling so many panes of glass, above which it is inflated into an 

 osseous capsule. 



An. histrionica, L,; Enl. 798; Wils. VIII, Ixxii, 4; Edw. 99; 



* This division constitutes the genus Platypus, Brehm.; or Hydrobates, Teni.; 

 or FiLiGULA, Ch. Bonap. 



t Add, the Jnas mersa and leucocephala, Voy. de Pall. fr. tr.. pi. v and vi ; Naum. 

 Sup. 40, f. 79, SO;— the Jti. brachyptcra, Lath., Voy. de Freycin. pi. xxxix. 



^^ (a) This genus is denominated by Cuvier Les Macreuses, a title which arises, 

 he states, from the notion of the birds belonging to it being small eaters.— Eng. Ed. 



