FAMILY S TEGANOPODA. SPLAY-FOOTED. 



95 



pressed hook; lower mandible consisting of two long, flexible branches 

 connected at the tip, and having attached throughout their whole length a 

 naked, pendulous skin in form of a bag ; nostrils basal, consisting of longi- 

 tudinal slits ; legs short and strong ; the hind toe articulated internally on 

 the same plane as the other three, and all connected in a single web ; claw 

 of the middle toe not serrated. 



2. CARBO a subgcnus of HALIEUS (Gr. aAtti/e, a fisher). Beak 

 generally exceeding the length of the head, straight and compressed ; 

 upper mandible much curved towards the point and hooked; its ridge 

 rounded; lower compressed; base surrounded by a membrane which 

 extends naked on the throat, and forms a pouch ; nostrils near the root 

 of the bill linear and hidden ; cheeks and throat naked ; wings adapted for 

 flying ; tail wedge-shaped ; legs short, strong, set far back, three toes in 

 front, and the fourth facing inwards completely webbed, the outer toe 

 directed almost immediately forwards ; claw of the middle toe serrated. 



3. TACHYPETES (Gr. Taxyirlrrie, quick flying). Beak long, stout, cutting, 

 depressed at the base and swelling on the sides ; points of both mandibles 

 strongly curved, the upper ending in a very pointed hook ; nostrils in 

 grooves, linear ; orbits naked ; throat dilatable in the male ; wings very 

 long and narrow; tail long and deeply forked; legs very short; tarsus 

 rather more than a fourth as long as the middle toe, and only feathered half 

 its length ; three front toes half webbed, the thumb toe articulated inside 

 and directed forwards. 



4. SOLA. Beak longer than the head, stout, large at base, straight, 

 compressed at tip, which is slightly curved ; edges of the mandibles ser- 

 rated ; nostrils basal, linear, covered posteriorly with membrane, and opening 

 behind the middle of the beak with a narrow oblong aperture ; face and 

 throat naked ; tail conical, and composed of twelve quills ; wings long ; 

 legs turned outwards, strong, short, and much drawn into the belly, four- 

 toed, three in front, of which the claw of the middle one is serrated, and the 

 hind toe attached to the inner side, all connected by membrane. 



5. FLATUS (Gr. 7rXan)c, broad). Beak long, straight, slender, and pointed, 

 its tip finely toothed ; edges of the upper mandible dilated at the base, but 

 otherwise compressed and inclined inwards ; lower mandible shorter than 

 the upper ; nostrils linear and concealed in a slight groove ; wings long ; 

 tail very long; legs short, strong, and set far back; tarsus shorter than the 

 middle and outer toe which are of equal length, all the toes enclosed in a 

 single web. 



6. PHAETON. Beak as long as the head, strong, bulky, compressed, cutting, 

 convex above, tip pointed, toothed on the edges ; nostrils basal, lateral, 

 covered above and near the base with naked membrane, and piercing 

 through the beak ; wings very long ; tail short, except two quills, which 

 are very long and slender ; legs very short ; anterior toes long, hind toe 

 short, and articulated on the inside, all included in the same membrane. 



STEGANOPODA. DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIES. 



PELECANUS Pelican. The size of the birds of this genus exceeds that 

 of the Swan, and it would be the largest of the water birds were it not for 

 the great length of the legs of the Flamingo, and the bulk of the Albatross. 

 Pelicans are very remarkable for the great size of their pouch, which consists 

 of a loose skin depending from the branches of the lower jaw, and which is 

 sufficiently large to hold two gallons and a half of water; hence it has 

 been called by the Egyptians the Water Camel: in consequence of the 

 flexibility of the lower jaw the bird is able to expand the orifice like the 

 mouth of a casting-net. In feeding, it takes up a large quantity of fish, 

 and, as might be supposed, at the same time much water, but it retracts 

 the pouch and gets rid of the water before swallowing its food. Pelicans 

 fly with considerable rapidity, much more than could be expected from 

 their size ; but this is explained by the fact of their bones and numerous 

 bags in the loose membrane connecting the skin and the body being filled 

 with air, which tends much, as in other quick-flying birds, to diminish 

 their specific gravity. They are also very remarkable for the power they 

 possess of perching on trees, in which respect, however, they resemble 

 some of the Geese, the Cormorants, and the Anhingas. Five species. 



The Great Pelican (P. Onocrotalus), Plate 18, is about five or six feet 

 in length, and sometimes more; all the plumage white tinged with rose- 

 colour, except the quill-feathers, which are black ; the naked face roseate- 

 white; the pouch light yellow; legs fleshy colour; tail consisting of 

 twenty feathers ; from the back of the head extends a tuft of long and 

 slender feathers ; the hook on the tip of the beak red, resembling a blood- 

 stain, and hence probably has originated the legend of the Pelican feeding 

 her young with her own blood. It is a native of the eastern countries of 

 Europe ; is common in Hungary and Russia, in Africa, on the banks of the 

 Senegal and Gambia (where the Negroes call them Pokko), on the coasts 

 of Angola, Sierra Leone, and Madagascar; at Siam, in China, the Isles of 

 Sonda, the Philippines, and Manillas ; and in America, from the Antilles to 

 Louisiana, and the neighbourhood of Hudson's Bay, and also in the southern 

 parts of Australia. 



CARBO (subgenus of HALIEUS) Cormorant. Two divisions may be 

 fairly made of this genus the True Cormorants, which have fourteen quill- 

 feathers to the tail, and the Shags, which have only twelve ; but, although 

 this seems to be the only difference, it is observed that they never associate ; 

 and, with regard to their breeding, the Cormorants build their nests on the 

 tops of the cliffs, whilst the Shags are content with holes in the rocks much 

 lower down. In character, the whole genus is sullen and heavy ; the eye, 

 however, is remarkably keen ; and when hungry they are very active, but 

 having satisfied themselves they squat lazily and inactively till hunger 

 induces their wonted activity in search of food. 



The True Cormorant (Carbo Cormoranus) is usually about two feet and 

 a half, but sometimes it attains more than three feet ; the bill about five 

 inches long, of a dusky colour ; throat surrounded with a white collar, the 

 extremities of which reach below each eye ; the throat-pouch yellow ; 

 head, neck, chest, under parts, and rump iridescent greenish-black ; the 

 feathers of the back ashy-brown hi the middle, and edged with a broad 

 black margin ; the alar and caudal quills black, the latter fourteen in 

 number, stiff and strong ; the legs short, the outer toe about four inches 

 long, and placed almost directly forward. They are common in all the 

 northern parts of the world upon the sea-coast, and feed voraciously on 

 fish, more especially, it is said, on Eels. In Greenland, the natives make 

 use of their throat-pouch as bladders for floating their fishing darts. 



TACHYPETES Frigate Bird (T. Aquilus). The total length from the tip 

 of the bill to that of the tail three feet, of which the dirty yellowish-white 

 beak is four and a half and the tail sixteen inches long at its outer edge, 

 whilst the quills at the bottom of the fork are only seven and a half long ; 

 transverse extent when the wings are expanded six feet ten niches, including 

 five inches the width of the body ; the throat and lower part of the long 

 neck naked as far as the breast in the male ; the skin of this part bright 

 red, and granular whilst undistended, but when expanded with air during 

 flight it is smooth and about the size of a hen's egg. The general colour 

 of the plumage in the male is black, inclining to glossy green on the back, 

 and his feet are black ; in the female the plumage is more dusky, and she 

 has nearly the whole head and belly white, with bluish-white feet The 

 Frigate Bird, Man-of- War Bird, Sea Eagle, and Halcyon, by all of which 

 names it is known to sailors, is commonly found between the tropics, but 

 in summer frequently visits Carolina. " The most striking peculiarity of 

 this genus consists," as Mr. Burton has well observed, " in the disproportion 

 which exists between the wings and the other extremities ; a disproportion 

 so enormous as probably not to be found in any other, if we except the 

 Ostrich and Cassowary, (to which also the Emeu may be added,) where it 

 is reversed ;" the extreme extent from the tip of one to that of the other 

 expanded wing being six feet ten inches, whilst the extreme length of the 

 leg, from the true knee to the junction of the toes with the tarsal bone, does 

 not exceed three inches, of which the latter bone measures only half an 

 inch, and the hind limbs, indeed, are actually much shorter even than this, 

 from being much drawn up into the skinny covering of the belly ; the 

 consequence of which is that if the bird once drop to the ground it is 

 unable, from this extreme shortness of the legs, to raise itself up to flight, 

 and therefore when it settles, it always rests upon some high rock or 



