CHAP. IV STEGANOPODES 



71 



both respects. The bill, which is more or less compound, is 

 long, pretty straight, and generally compressed: in Phaethon 

 and Sula it is strong, conical, and pointed ; in Phalacrocorax 

 either stout with a long hooked nail, or less robust with the 

 hook at the tip shorter, the sides being scabrous ; in Ftp (jot a 

 similar, in Plotm slender and tapering, in Peleccmus weak, much 

 flattened, hooked, and scaly. The maxilla is furrowed in Sida, 

 Pelecanus, and Pludacrocorax, with the median part concave in 

 the latter, while the cutting edges of both mandibles are serrated 

 in PJioetJion, Sida, and Plotus. The' legs are placed far back, 

 especially in Phalacrocorax, the tibiae being partly bare in 

 Phaethon and Pelecanus, but feathered in the other forms, of 

 which Fregctta has the clothing continued to the toes. The 

 metatarsus is short, stout, and compressed, that of Fregata being 

 extremely abbreviated, as in the Spheniscidae ; it is entirely 

 covered with hexagonal scales, becoming almost reticulated behind, 

 while the toes exhibit distinct transverse scutes in Phalacrocorax, 

 and have a similar tendency elsewhere. The hallux, which is 

 somewhat elevated in PhaMhon, is turned inwards or forwards, 

 and is connected with the remaining toes by full webs, except in 

 Fregata, where the membranes are excised to about half their 

 extent ; this unique " Steganopodous " foot giving the name to 

 the whole group. The stout curved claws — weaker in Fregata-, 

 — are of medium length,' that of the middle digit being serrated 

 on the inner side in the last named, Sula, and Phalacrocorax. 

 The wings are long and pointed, reaching their maximum in 

 Fregata, their minimum in Phalacrocorax, and having a 

 very ample spread in Sula and Pelecanus. There are eleven 

 primaries, and from fifteen to twenty-nine incurved secondaries, 

 which may even exceed the former. In Pelecamcs the short, 

 broad, roundish tail consists of from eighteen to twenty-four soft 

 acute rectrices, but in the remaining genera the feathers are 

 strong and stiff, being particularly rigid in Phalacrocorax and 

 Plotus : Phaethon has sixteen, which are moderate and graduated, 

 with a long filiform median pair in the adult ; Sula and Phala- 

 crocorax from twelve to fourteen in a more or less wedge-shaped 

 formation ; Fregata twelve, arranged in a fork ; while Plotus has 

 the same number, forming a fan, the webs being very broad and 

 showing curious transverse corrugations in mature birds, found 

 also on the scapulars. The tail is fairly long in the four last 



