420 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



p. 



Pal'mate. | Web-footed ; having the anterior toes full-webbed. Compare Semi- 



Pal'mated. j- pa i mate and Totipalmate. 



Pal'miped. ) 



Palu'dicole. Marsh-inhabitating. 



Pal'udme. > p erta ining to a marsh or swamp. 



Palus' trine. $ 



Pap ilia. Small fleshy nipple-like prominence. 



Par'asite. In Oology, a species which constructs no nest and performs none of the 

 duties of incubation or rearing of the young, but imposes on other birds for 

 this purpose. A parasitic bird is also a species which obtains its food by syste- 

 matically robbing other species; as the Parasitic Jaeger (sttercorarius para- 

 siticus). Bald Eagle (Haliceetus lettcocephalus). 



Parasi'tic. Habitually making use of other birds' nests. 



Pas seres. A group of birds including the sparrows and all the higher birds. 



Pas'serine. Sparrow-like. Belonging to the group of Passeres. 



Pearl Blue. A very pale purplish blue color. 



Pearl Gray. A very pale delicate blue-gray color, like the mantle of certain gulls. 



Pec'tinate. ) Having tooth-like projections, like those of a comb, as in the toes of 



Pec'tinated. ) a heron or grouse. 



Pec 'toral. Pertaining to the breast. 



Pec'tus The breast. 



Pelag'ic. Frequenting the high seas. 



Phase. Used more especially in the case of dichromatic species, as the melan- 

 istic phase, the rufescent phase, etc. 



Pi'ci. The name of a natural group, or order, of zygodactyle birds, comprising the 

 woodpeckers and wrynecks. 



Pig'ment. Coloring-matter. 



Pil'eus. > The t of head from bage f biu t e 



Pil'eum. 



Pink. A dilute rose-red color. 



Pin'nate. ) Having little wing-like tuits of elongated feathers on the side of the 



Pin'nated. $ neck. 



Pin'tailed. Having the central tail-feathers elongated and narrowly acuminate, as 



in the male Pintail Duck (Dafila acuta). 

 Pisciv'orous. Fish-eating. 

 Plu'mage. The leathers, collectively. 



Plum'beous. A deep bluish-gray color, like tarnished lead ; lead-color. 

 Polyg'amous. Mating with many females, as the domestic cock. 

 Poste'rior. (Upper or Lower) Parts. The hinder half of a bird, above or below. 

 Postoc'ular. i 



Postor'bital. \ Back of ' or P osterior to > the eve - 

 Pow'der-down Feath'ers. Peculiar imperfect feathers, in a matted patch, which 



grow continually, and as constantly break down, with a scrufy exfoliation, 



and pervaded with a greasy substance ; they are especially conspicuous in 



the heron tribe, but are also found elsewhere. 

 Pri'mary. Anyone of the quill-leathers of the u hand-wing," usually nine to eleven 



in number. Used chiefly in the plural, as distinguished from the secondaries 



or those, remiges which grow upon the forearm. 

 Pri'mary Cov'erts. The series of stiff feathers, usually corresponding with the 



primaries in their graduation, which overlie the basal portion of the latter. 

 Punctate. Dotted. 



Pu'pil. Central black disc circumscribed by the iris ; a hole, not a substance. 

 Pur'ple. A color intermediate between red and blue. 

 Pygopo'des. A group of swimming birds, containing the families PodicipididoB, 



Colymbidce and Alcidce, distinguished by the extreme posterior position of 



the legs. 

 Pyr'iform. Pear-shaped. 



