AVES 



415 



In the Steganopodes (web-footed) are included cormorants, 

 pelicans, flamingos, storks, the ibis, etc. These are large water 

 birds in which the legs are usually long and the feet suited to 

 wading and swimming. They are heavy eaters, living largely 

 on fish. They are often expert fishermen, the white pelicans 

 acting in concert in driving the fish before them into shallow 

 water, where they capture numbers of them in a capacious pouch 



FIG. 21=;. 



FIG. 215. A right lateral view of the skull of the American Flamingo (Phcenicopterus ruber). 

 Photographed from specimen by Dr. R. W. Shufeldt. 



Questions on the figure. Distinguish upper and lower jaws, comparing 

 them as to massiveness. Is this the usual condition in birds? How much of the 

 skull is occupied by the brain ? To what habits of the flamingo is the form of its 

 beak an adaptation? Compare with Fig. 219. 



of the lower jaw. The flamingos are long-legged, wonderfully 

 colored birds with most interesting gregarious nesting habits. 



The Anseres (geese). The geese, ducks, and swans are 

 familiar because of their widespread migrations and because of 

 numerous domestic varieties. They have heavy bodies and: 

 characteristic form. Three toes are united by the web. Their- 



