72 Vertebrata. 



are the ibises, spoonbills, storks, and jabirus, some of 

 which are distinguished for their brilliant colours, 

 like the scarlet ibis, the straw-necked ibis, and the 

 scarlet spoonbill. The loose feathers of the lepto- 

 ptilus of India are used for ornamenting bonnets, 

 under the name Marabou feathers. 



44. Order 11, Ducks and Geese (Lamellirostres). 

 The birds belonging to this order make a very 

 natural assemblage characterised by possessing webbed 

 feet and long flattened bills, which on the under 

 surface of the upper mandible exhibit a series of close 

 transverse lamellae ; these act as sensitive prehensile 

 surfaces in feeding, and large nerves are distributed 

 on them. They have large fleshy tongues, and the 

 hind toe is free and small. The wild swan presents 

 a curious arrangement of its very long and sinuous 

 windpipe, a coil of which lies within the hollow keel 

 of the sternum. The best known forms are the ducks, 

 geese, mergansers, swans, teals, widgeon, c. 



45. Order 12, Longipennes. These are also web- 

 footed marine fish-eating birds, with long pointed 

 wings well fitted for flight They have long com- 

 pressed beaks, with the nostrils either slit-like, as in 

 the common gull, or tubular, as in the petrel. The 

 hind toe is free, and usually of small size. 



The gulls, terns, petrels are the best known 

 examples, the largest species in the order being the 

 famous albatross, found on the ocean about the 

 equator, which is allied to the small petrels or Mother 

 Gary's chickens. 



46. Order 13, Pelicans (Steganopodes). A 

 curious order of water birds which have all the four 



