PALMIPEDES, 375 
farther back, smaller wings, a stiffer tail, more compressed tarsi, longer 
toes, and the membrane of the feet more entire. They walk with more 
difficulty, feed more exclusively on fish and insects, and dive more fre- 
quently *. Among them we may distinguish the 
OwemiA, or THE Macrevuses or Sea-Ducks (a), Fleming, 
By the breadth and inflation of the bill. 
Anas nigra, L.; La Macreuse commune, Enl. 972; Naum. 
Supp. 14, f. 28 and 29; Brit. Zool. pl. Q; Wils. VIII, Ixxii, 2, 
(the Scoter), is all black, greyish when young; the bill very broad, 
with a protuberance on its base. It is found in large flocks on the 
coast of France, where it feeds chiefly on muscles. The An. cine- 
raceus, Naum. I, c. 60, f. 91, 92, is the young female. 
An fusca, L.; La double Macreuse, Enl. 956; Frisch, 165; 
Naum. 1, c. Supp. f. 15 and 16; Wils. LXXII, 3 (the Velvet 
Duck), differs in its superior size, a white spot on the wing, and a 
white streak under the eye. ‘There is a circular vertically flattened 
inflation in the middle of its trachea. 
An. perspicillata, L.; Enl. 995; Edw. 155; Wils. VIII, lxvii, 
1. (The Black Duck). Some white on the occiput and behind the 
neck; the naked and yellow skin of the base of the bill also sur- 
rounds the eyes. 
New Holland produces a speckled species, remarkable for a large 
fleshy appendage that hangs under its bill, dn. lobata, Nat. Misc., 
VIII, pl. 255, and Col. 406 4 
We may also separate 
Crancuta, Leach. 
In which the bill is short and narrower towards the end; and place first 
on the list those species the middle quills of whose tail are the longest, 
which renders it pointed. Such are 
An. glacialis, L., Enl. 1008; Edw. 280; Naum. 52, f. 76; 
Wils. VIII, lxx, 1, 2; the young male, Enl. 999; Naum. 52, f. 
76, B; the adult in wedding livery, Edw. 156. (The Sarcelle 
Duck). White; a fawn-coloured spot on the cheek and side of the 
neck; breast, back, tail, and part of the wing, black. Of all the 
European Ducks, this has the shortest bill. Its trachea, ossified 
near the root, has on one side five square membranous spaces re- 
sembling so many panes of glass, above which it is inflated into an 
osseous capsule. 
An. histrionica, L,; Enl. 798; Wils. VIII, Ixxii, 4; Edw. 99; 
* This division constitutes the genus PLatypus, Brehm.; or HyprosaTEs, Tem.; 
or Firieguna, Ch. Bonap. 
+ Add, the Anas mersa and leucocephala, Voy. de Pall. fr. tr., pl. v and vi; Naum. 
Sup. 40, f. 79, 80;—the An. brachyptera, Lath., Voy. de Freycin. pl. xxxix. 
KES (a) This genus is denominated by Cuvier Les Macreuses, a title which arises, 
he states, from the notion of the birds belonging to it being small eaters.—Ene. Ep. 
