PALMIPEDES. 419 
A few species or varieties only are known, whose white plu- 
mage is more or less varied with blackish, and which are not 
larger than Pigeons.(1) 
. 
FAMILY IV. 
LAMELLIROSTRES. 
In this family we find a thick bill, invested with a soft 
skin rather than with true horn; its edges are furnished with 
famine or little teeth; the tongue is broad and fleshy, the 
edges notched. The wings are of a moderate length, They 
pass more of their time on fresh waters than at sea. The tra- 
chea of the male, in the greater number, is inflated near its 
bifurcation into capsules of various forms. The gizzard is 
large and very muscular, the ceca long. The great genus, 
Awas, Lin. 
Comprises those Palmipedes, the edges of whose large and broad 
bill are furnished with a range of thin’ salient Jaminz, placed 
transversely, which appear destined to allow the water to pass off 
when the bird has seized its prey. They are divided into three sub- 
genera, whose limits, however, are not very precise. 
Cyenus, Meyer. 
The bill of the Swans is of an equal breadth throughout, higher 
at base than it is wides the nostrils about the middle of its length; 
the neck is very long. They are the largest birds of the genus, and 
feed chiefly on the seeds and roots of aquatic plants. Their intes- 
tines and czca in particular are consequently very long. There is 
no inflation of the trachea. Two species are found in Europe, 
Anas olor, Gm.;. Cigne & bec rouge, Enl. 913. (The Red-billed 
or Domestic Swan.) Beak red, edged with black, surmounted 
at base by a rounded protuberance; the plumage snow-white. 
When young, the beak is lead-coloured and the plumage grey. 
This is the species, when domesticated, that forms the orna- 
ment of our ponds and grounds. Its elegance of form, graceful 
movements, and snow-white plumage have rendered it the em- 
blem of innocence and beauty. It feeds both on fish and vege- 
(1) Pheet. xtherius, Enl. 369 and 998;—Ph. phenicurus, Enl. 979, Vieill. Gal. 
pl. 279. 
