772 BIRDS OF INDIA. 



Ord. natatoees. 



Syn. Palmipedes, Cuvier. 



Feet more or less fully webbed, the legs placed far back- 

 wards on the body, and the tarsi compressed, adapting them for 

 swimming ; bill and wings varied ; plumage very thick and close, 

 with a quantity of down next the skin, in some families im- 

 pregnated with oil ; the hind toe is occasionally absent and always 

 small. In one family the toes are free, only bordered by a wide 

 web. 



The birds of this order are so variously organized, that few 

 generalizations can be made. Some have the wings hardly 

 developed, and live almost entirely in the sea, diving and swim- 

 ming rapidly beneath the surface ; others appear to spend the 

 greater part of their lives on the wing, and are incapable of 

 diving ; whilst others both fly and dive well. The food of one 

 family is chiefly vegetable, of all the others, fish, molluscs, 

 Crustacea or insects. 



Like the Grallatores, some are capable of running at once from 

 the shell, and soon feed themselves, (Autophagi) ; while others 

 form rude nests on trees, on rocks, or among the herbage 

 of the shore, and feed their young till they are able to fly 

 ( Reterophagi). 



The divisions adopted in the present work are as follows, and 

 aie taken partly from Mr. Blyth, as having terminations conform- 

 able with those of the other tribes of birds : — 



A. (Autophagous) — The young following the parent as soon 

 as hatched. 



Tribe 1st — Lamellirostres, containing one family, the Anatidce, 

 or Ducks. 



2nd. — Mergitores, Loons and Grebes. 

 Zrd. — Vngatores, Gulls and Petrels. 



B. (Heterophagous) — The young requiring to be fed for a 

 longer or shorter period. 



ith. — Piscatores, Cormorants and Pelicans. 



