184 MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS TO THE [Chap. VII 



length of the head of a moderately large Bakenoptera rostrata, in 

 which species the baleen is only nine inches long ; so that if we 

 were to make the head of the shoveller as long as that of the 

 Bala?noptera, the lamella? would be six inches in length, — that is, 

 two-thirds of the length of the baleen in this species of whale. The 

 lower mandible of the shoveller-duck is furnished with lamella? of 

 equal length with those above, but fiuer ; and in being thus fur- 

 nished it differs conspicuously from the lower jaw of a whale, which 

 is destitute of baleen. On the other hand, the extremities of these 

 lower lamella? are frayed into fine bristly points, so that they thus 

 curiously resemble the plates of baleen. In the genus Prion, a. 

 member of the distinct family of the Petrels, the upper mandible 

 alone is furnished with lamellae, which are well developed and 

 project beneath the margin ; so that the beak of this bird resembles 

 in this respect the mouth of a whale. 



From the highly developed structure of the shoveller's beak we 

 may proceed (as I have learnt from information and specimens sent 

 to me by Mr. Salvin), without any great break, as far as fitness for 

 sifting is concerned, through the beak of the Merganetta armata, and 

 in some respects through that of the Aix sponsa, to the beak of the 

 common duck. In this latter species, the lamella? are much coarser 

 than in the shoveller, and are firmly attached to the sides of the 

 mandible ; they are only about 50 in number on each side, and do not 

 project at all beneath the margin. They are square-topped, and aro 

 edged with translucent hardish tissue, as if for crushing food. The 

 edges of the lower mandible are crossed by numerous fine ridges, 

 which project very little. Although the beak is thus very inferior 

 as a sifter to that of the shoveller, yet this bird, as every one knows, 

 constantly uses it for this purpose. There are other species, as I 

 hear from Mr. Salvin, in which the lamella? are considerably less 

 developed than in the common duck ; but I do not know whether 

 they use their beaks for sifting the water. 



Turning to another group of the same family. In the Egyptian 

 goose (Chenalopex) the beak closely resembles that of the common 

 duck ; but the lamella? are not so numerous, nor so distinct from 

 each other, nor do they project so much inwards ; yet this goose, is 

 I am informed by Mr. E. Bartlett, " uses its bill like a duck by 

 throwing the water out at the corners." Its chief food, however, is 

 grass, which it crops like the common goose. In this latter bird, 

 the lamella? of the upper mandible are much coarser than in the 

 common duck, almost confluent, about 27 in number on each 

 side, and terminating upwards in teeth-like knobs. The palate is 

 also covered with hard rounded knobs. The edges of the lower 



