PALMIPEDES. 371 
Booby, trom a small island in the gulf of Edinburgh, where it is very 
abundant, although it lays but a single egg. It is frequently seen 
on the coast of France during the winter. The young is brown, 
spotted with white, Enl. 986. The remaining species of the Boobies 
are not yet sufficiently ascertained*. 
Protus, Lin. 
The Darters have a body and feet very similar to those of a Cormorant, 
carry a long neck and small head, with a straight, slender, pointed bill, 
whose edges are denticulated; the eyes and nudity of the face are also the 
same as in the Pelicans, with whose habits theirs are similar, perching 
like them on trees. 
Several species or varieties are known from the hot climates of 
both continents. They are not larger than the duck, but they have 
a longer neckf. 
Puzton, Lin. 
The Straw-tailed or Tropica] Birds are known by two very long and nar- 
row feathers that flow from their tail, which at a distance resemble so 
many straws. There is no naked part about the head. Their bill is 
straight, pointed, denticulated, and tolerably strong; their feet short and 
their wings long: their powers of flight on the high seas are consequently 
great, and, as they rarely quit the torrid zone, their presence announces 
to the mariner his vicinity to the tropics. On land, where they seldom 
resort except to build their nests, they perch on trees. 
A few species or varieties only are known, whose white plumage 
is more or less varied with blackish, and which are not larger than 
pigeons§. 
FAMILY IV. 
LAMELLIROSTRES. 
The birds of this family have a thick bill, invested with a soft skin 
rather than with true horn; its edges are furnished with lamine or little 
teeth; the tongue is broad and fleshy, the edges notched. Their wings 
are of a moderate length. They pass more of their time on fresh water 
than at sea. The trachea of the male, in the greater number, is inflated 
* Add the Fou brun (Pelee sula, L.), Enl. 973, Catesb. I, 87; Vieill. Gal. 277. 
+ Plotus, or plautus, signifies, in Latin, flat-foot. Klein has employed it for one 
of his families of the Palmipedes. Linnzus applied it to the Darters. 
+ Plot. melanogaster, Enl. 959 and 960; Vieill. Gal. 278; Wils. IX, Ixxiv, 1, 2;— 
Enl. 107;—Lath. Syn. VI, pl. 96;—Anhinga Levaillant, T. Col. 380. 
§ Pheet. etherius, Enl. 369 and 998;—Ph. phenicurus, Enl. 979, Vieill. Gal. 
pl. 279. 
