BIRDS. 



ORDER 



NATATORES. 



Rostrum diversum. 



Pedes breves, in equilibria, ant ad apicem corporis inserti ; tibiae 

 imae plus minusve nudce ; digiti omnes, ant antici soli, toti vel 

 semipalmati ; ungues breves aut medicares, compressi out de- 

 pressi. 



Beak various. 



Legs short, inserted in the equilibrium, or at the tip of the body ; 

 tibiae more or less naked at the lower part ; toes, all, or the 

 anterior only, entirely or half-webbed j claws short, or mode- 

 rate, compressed or depressed. 



the Birds belonging to this order have their 

 feet formed for swimming, and they are usually 

 placed very backward on the body; in some genera 

 at the extremity itself; the tarsi are generally short 

 and compressed, and the toes are more or less webbed ; 

 and in a few of the genera all of them are united by 

 a membrane : in others, the anterior toes alone are 

 furnished with that appendage. Their plumage is 

 generally very downy, thick, and glossy, and is mostly 

 saturated with an oily matter, deposited on the fea- 

 thers, from two glands situated at the extremity of 

 v. xii. P. ii. 1 



