ORDER PALMIPEDES. 545 



THE SIXTH ORDER OF BIRDS, PALMIPEDES. 



The birds of this order are characterized by their 

 feet and legs, formed for swimming ; that is to say, 

 placed far back on the body, with short and com- 

 pressed tarsi, and webs between the toes. A close, 

 shining plumage, moistened by an oily secretion, 

 and furnished near the skin with a thick down, pro- 

 tects them from the water, on the surface of which 

 they live. They are also the only birds in which 

 the neck is longer, and sometimes considerably so 

 than the legs, because while swimming on the surface 

 they have frequent occasion to seek their food below 

 it. Their sternum is very long, well protecting 

 the greater part of the viscera, and having on each 

 side merely a notch or an oval concavity, covered 

 with membranes. They have in general a muscular 

 gizzard, the coeca long, and the lower larynx 

 simple ; but in one family, it is swollen into cartila- 

 ginous capsules. 



This order is conveniently enough divided into 

 four families. 



VOT.. VIII. * N K 



