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Genus ANAS. 



Anas, Brisson, Orn. vi. p. 307 (1760). 



Fuligula apud Gould, B. of Eur. iv. p. 373 (1837). 



Querquedula apud Bonaparte, Comp. List, p. 57 (1838). 



Bqfila apud Eyton, Monogr. Anat. p. 114 (1838). 



Marmaronetta apud Bonaparte, Compt. Bend, xliii. p. 650 (1856). 



Marmonetta apud Reichenbach, fide G. R. Gray, Hand-1. of B. iii. p. 84 (1871). 



Chaulelasmus apud G. R. Gray, ut supra (1871). 



This genus is very widely distributed, being found in the Palsearctic, Ethiopian, Oriental, 

 Australian, Nearctic, and Neotropical Regions, only two species, however, being met with in 

 the Western Palsearctic Region ; and one of these, Anas marmorata, I include with great doubt 

 in this genus. 



The species belonging to the genus Anas frequent rivers, lakes, marshes, and, to some extent, 

 also the sea-coast. They swim with ease, and are able to dive, but do not, as a rule, do so unless 

 pursued. They feed on the fleshy portions and roots of aquatic plants, which they obtain by 

 reaching down in shallow water, the body being held in a perpendicular position, the tail up in 

 the air ; they also feed on seeds, mollusca, small fish, frogs, and aquatic insects. On land they 

 walk, and even run, with tolerable ease. They place their nest on the ground, constructing it of 

 sedges, grasses, &c, and lining it with down, and deposit numerous pale greenish-grey eggs. 



Anas boschas, the type of the genus, has the bill a trifle longer than the head, higher than 

 broad at the base, gradually depressed, becoming a little broader at the end ; the dorsal line 

 sloping to beyond the nostrils, then nearly straight, the margins broadly ovate, decurved ; the 

 gape-line nearly straight; the ends of the lamellae just showing along the edge of the upper 

 mandible ; nostrils oval, subbasal ; trachea of nearly uniform width, the lower larynx with a 

 transversely oblong bony expansion forming a rounded sac on the left side ; wings moderate, 

 pointed, the first two quills longest, inner secondaries elongated, rather pointed ; tail short, 

 much rounded ; legs short, tibia bare for a short distance, tarsus short, compressed, anteriorly 

 scutellate ; hind toe small, with a narrow membrane, anterior toes moderate, interdigital mem- 

 branes full, the inner toe rather shorter than the outer one ; claws small, compressed, arched, 

 obtuse. 



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