ORDER PALMIPEDES. 597 



feathers, 2 feet 10 inches ; patched black and white. 

 Leach. Zool. Mus. t. 118. 



Red-tailed Tropic Bird. Ph. Phcenicurus^ Enl. 

 979. Vieill. Gal. 279. 



Pale-rose colour ; bill and tail, red ; feet, black. 

 South Seas. 



The Family of Lamellirostres, 



Has the bill thick, covered with a soft skin rather 

 than a true horn, its edges furnished with laminae, or 

 small teeth ; the tongue is large and fleshy, indented 

 on the edges ; their wings are of moderate length. 

 They inhabit the fresh rather than the salt waters. 

 In the majority of them, the trachea of the male, 

 is enlarged near its bifurcation into capsules of 

 divers forms. The gizzard is large, very muscular, 

 and the coeca long. 



The great Genus of Ducks. Anas, L. 



Comprehends those palmipedes whose large and flat 

 bill is furnished at its edge with a range of protrud- 

 ing thin laminae, transversely placed, which appear 

 to be destined to suffer the water to pass, when the 

 bird has seized its prey. They are divided into 

 three subgenera, whose limits are, however, not very 

 precise. 



The Swans. Cygnus, Meyer. 

 Have the bill as large in front as in the rear, and 



