304 NATATORES. ANAS. 



GENUS ANAS, LINN. DUCK. 



GENERIC CHARACTERS. 



Bill longer than the head, depressed through its whole 

 length, broad, strait from before the nostrils to the tip, nearly 

 equally broad throughout. Mandibles deritato-laminate, 

 with the laminae of the upper mandible scarcely projecting 

 beyond the margin. Nostrils lateral, oval, situated near the 

 base of the bill. Wings of mean length, acuminate. Tail 

 short, slightly wedge-shaped ; with the middle feathers curl- 

 ing upwards in some species. 



Feet with four toes, three before and one behind ; the 

 front ones webbed, the hind toe small and free. 



The birds of this genus, of which the Common Wild 

 Duck may be considered the representati\e, differ from the 

 Shovellers in the general form of the bill, which is not ex- 

 panded near the tip, and in the shortness of the laminae of 

 the upper mandible, which do not project beyond its mar- 

 gins. In this latter respect they also differ from the Gad- 

 walls. They possess a wide range, being met with in most 

 parts of the globe ; and it is from the common species (Anas 

 Boschas) that we have obtained our useful domestic Duck, 

 now expanded into so many varieties. 



