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NATATORES. 4: 
FAMILY IV.—PELECANID. 
Tue Pelecanidx, which form the fourth and an aberrant 
division of the Natatores, are distinguished from the preced- 
ing and other families, by the peculiar form of their feet, 
which consist of four toes, all united by a continuous mem- 
brane, the hind toe being articulated upon the inner part of 
the tarsus, and standing at an angle with it, or rather direct- 
ed to the front. The bill, in the various genera, is strong in 
form, and commonly longer than the head: in many the tip 
is bent downwards, and armed with a strong hook ; in others 
(where a nearer approach is made to the members of neigh- 
bouring families) it is strait and sharp-pointed, as exempli- 
fied in the genus Phaéton, which closely connects the present 
with the succeeding family of the Laride, through the inter- 
vention of the Terns. In an aberrant group of this family, 
we find also an obvious approximation, both in external ap- 
pearance and habits, to the Vultwride and Falconide, thus 
forming the link between the raptorial and natatorial orders. 
Such are the birds belonging to the genus T'achypetes, re- 
presented by the Frigate Birds, whose form and habits assi- 
milate them so much to the larger rapacious kind, as to have 
induced Linnxus to bestow the specific title of Aquzlus on 
the only species knewn by him. In this genus the wings 
are extraordinarily developed, and are equal to the most dis- 
tant and protracted flights ; the tail is also long and forked, 
and their legs are very short, with the tarsi feathered, like 
many of the raptorial order. Their feet are small, in com- 
parison with others of the family, and the membranes con- 
necting the toes are so much curtailed, as to be inadequate 
to the task of swimming. They live almost entirely in the 
air, and take their prey upon the wing, not by precipitating 
themselves upon it in the water, like the Gannets, Terns, 
