ANATIDA, — CXXXVI 227 
Sea birds of tropical regions, the immense wings giving them a 
power of flight surpassed by no other bird. They live mainly by 
robbing the terns and gulls, which they watch, often from great 
heights in the air. The two species range widely in the warm seas. 
348. PREGATA Cuvier. (ltal., frigate.) 
684. F. aquila(L.). Man O’ War Birp. Black, the shoulders 
lustrousin g. L.40. W.25. T.174. B.4%. Tropical seas, 
occasional N. (Lat., eagle.) 
OrpeR XXXV. ANSERES. (Tse Ducks anp GEESE.) 
Desmognathous swimmers with the basipterygoids more or less 
developed and the feet not totipalmate; bill lamellate; no gular 
pouch. Feet 4-toed, palmate; hind toe small, elevated. Legs 
short. This order (often called Lamellirostres, associated with the 
Flamingoes, ete., to form the Chenomorphe of Huxley and Stejne- 
ger) “opens the series of desmognathous birds, which are char- 
acterized by having the palatal bones united across the middle 
either directly or by the intermediation of ossifications in the nasal 
septum.” (Stejneger.) 
This familiar order contains nearly all the Water-fowl which are 
valued in domestication or as game birds. As here understood, 
the Anseres comprise but a single family, the Phanicopteride or 
Flamingoes, wading birds with a duck’s bill, being placed in a 
distinct order Odontoglosse, by the American Ornithologists’ 
Union. 
Famity CXXXVI. ANATIDA. (Tue Ducks.) 
Bill lamellate, ¢. ¢., furnished along each cutting edge with a 
regular series of tooth-like processes, which correspond to certain 
laciniate processes of the fleshy tongue, which ends in a horny tip; 
bill large, thick, high at base, depressed towards the end, mem- 
branous except at the obtuse tip which is occupied by a horny 
nail. Body heavy, flattened beneath. Head high, compressed, 
with sloping forehead; eyes small. Tail various, usually short, of 
14 to 16 feathers, the lower coverts being long and full. Legs 
and feet short; anterior toes full-webbed. Tibia feathered. Sexes 
usually quite unlike (excepting among the Swans and Geese). Spe- 
cies about 175, of all parts of the world; migratory ; all are good 
swimmers. 
uw. Neck shorter than body; lores feathered. 
8. Tarsus scutellate in front, shorter than middle toe without claw. Sexes 
unlike. Ducks. 
c. Lower mandible without trace of Jamelle along the side, but with a 
series of distinct, tooth-like serrations along the upper edge (inner 
