348 BRITISH BIRDS. 



fl)c 



BIRDS of this genus have roundish slender bills, 

 furnished at the end with a hard, horny, crooked 

 nail ; edges of the mandibles very sharply toothed, 

 or serrated, and pointing inwards; nostrils small, 

 sub-ovated, and placed near the middle of the bill: 

 tongue rough, with hard indented papillae, turned 

 backward: legs short, feet webbed; toes long, and 

 the outer ones about the same length as the middle : 

 the head is small, but the quantity of soft silky 

 feathers with which it is furnished, and which they 

 can bristle up from the nape of the neck to the 

 brow, gives it a large appearance. They are a 

 broad, long-bodied, and flat-backed kind of birds, 

 and swim very squatly on the water, the body 

 seeming nearly submerged, with only the head and 

 neck clearly seen. They are expert divers, remain- 

 ing a long while under water, and getting to a 

 great distance before they appear again. They 

 fly near the surface of the water, and, notwith- 

 standing the shortness of their wings, with great 

 swiftness, though seldom to any great distance. 

 They devour a large quantity of fish, particularly 

 eels ; and their pointed, sharp-toothed, and hooked 

 bills are well calculated for holding fast their 

 slippery prey, none of which, when once within 

 their gripe, can escape. 



They moult in autumn, and have also a partial 

 moult late in the spring. The male exhibits that 

 remarkable configuration of the windpipe, termed 

 the labyrinth, originally pointed out by Willoughby. 



