broad, long and almost solid at the base ; keel low, forv/ard, 

 slightly sloping to the base ; frontal bone comparatively stout 

 and round, only connected with the keel by weak muscles ; wing 

 almost twice as long as wide with very strong pectoral muscles 

 for swift, systematic and sustained flight ; no crop. 



2. Limicolae. — Toes bare, lobed, or semi-palmated ; legs 

 long and slender fur wading; bill long and slender (except in 

 plover) for surface feeding or probing the mud and bog weed ; 

 sternum slight, narrow and short; frontal bone quite delicate, 

 keel proportionately quite high covering down to a nearly solid 

 base ; wings long and narrow, well adapted for an erratic dodg- 

 ing flight. No crop. 



3. Gallinae. — Toes unwebbed and unlobed ; tarsus short and 

 stout, often covered with hair or fine feathers ; hind toe much 

 longer than either Anseres or Limicolae ; foot suitable for 

 scratching, running on dry land or perching in trees ; bill short 

 and stout; sternum very narrow and long proportionately; keel 

 very high, curving down to a solid base detached from a strip of 

 bone on each side, seeming like the lower rib, only it is not 

 jointed to the sternum but is part of itself; frontal bone long, 

 narrow and pomted, attached to keel by quite a strong muscle ; 

 wings short, broad and rounded for a bullet like flight to escape 

 enemies; quite a large crop where considerable food can be 

 stored from time to time. 



ANSERE5 (DUCKS AND QEESE). 



Dealing with each order separately, we find them divided 

 again into families, each showing characteristics peculiar to 

 themselves. 



In Anseres there are four such families, viz. : 



(a) Merginae. — Mergansers or fish ducks : Bill long, narrow 

 and rounded, sharply toothed for holding fish ; tarsus shorter 

 than middle toe, without nail, having a representation of three 

 species in Manitoba. 



(b) Anatinae. — River Ducks : Tarsus as in Merginae, bill 

 broad, flattened teeth, more ridgelike ; no lobe on the hind toe. 



