10 



LAMELLIROSTRAL SWIMMERS — ANSERES. 



neck much elongated, forming a conspicuous rull' of soft, narrow Ifuthcrs ; inner tertial 

 with the shaft much bent, giving to the outer web a falcate form, the inner web widened 

 into an excessively broad, i'an-like, or sail-like ornament. Tail shoit ; the rectrices shorter 

 than the lower coverts, mucli longer than the upper, {.lie, Bon:.) 

 A. sponsa. Feathering at the base of the maxilla extending much fartlicr forward at tlie I'ic- 

 tus than at the sides of the forehead, and forming a gently curved (convex) line between 

 these points ; depth of the Inll at the base much greater than the width, the ujjper base 

 of the maxilla forming a deep angle extending a considerable distance on each side of the 

 forehead ; feathers of the side of the head and neck short and vcdvety ; inner tertial of 

 normal form, the shaft straight. Tail long (half as long as the wing), vaulted, graduated, 

 the feathers very broad, and extending far beyond the coverts. (Dendroncssa, Swainson.) 



The nearest ally of Aix, so far as structure is concerned, in America, is the genus Catrina, 

 represented by the well-known Muscovy Duck (C. moschata) ; but this dift'ers in many important 



.1. sponsa. 



I)articulars, chief among which are the very large stature and marked discrepancy in size between 

 the sexes, and the brownish fleshy caruncles on the forehead and lores. Tlie points of similarity 

 are numerous, however, tlie tail being Iqng, broad, graduated, and somewhat vaulted, the nail 

 ot the bill very large and broad, the nostrils large and open, the head crested, etc. Among the 

 l)eculiariti(!s of Gairimt, as distinguislied from other American genera, are the naked and caruncled 

 face, the extremely lengthened secondaries, and relatively short greater wing-coverts. 



