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Genus II.— PODICEPS, Lath. GREBE. 



Bill about the length of the head, or shorter, straight, rather stout, much 

 compressed, tapering, pointed; upper mandible with the dorsal line declinate 

 and more or less convex toward the end, the ridge convex, the sides erect 

 and somewhat convex, the edges sharp and inflected, the tip narrow; nasal 

 groove rather long, extending to nearly half the length of the mandible, 

 feathered at the base; nostrils linear-elliptical, basal, rather small, pervious; 

 lower mandible with the angle long and extremely narrow, the dorsal line 

 ascending and straight, the sides erect and slightly convex, the edges sharp 

 and involute, the tip acute. Head of moderate size, oblong, narrowed 

 before; neck rather long and slender; body long, depressed. Feet short, 

 large, placed close to the extremity of the body; tibia feathered to the joint; 

 tarsus extremely compressed, its anterior edge with a row of small scutella, 

 the sides broadly scutellate, the posterior ridge with a double row of small 

 prominent scales; toes four, first very small, with a posterior membrane, 

 fourth longest, all scutellate, the anterior connected at the base by mem- 

 branes, and having on both sides an expanded web-like margin, marked 

 with oblique lines. Claws flat, that of the third toe broadest. Plumage 

 very soft and blended, on the lower parts dusky. Wings small, acute, 

 curved, the second primary longest, the first little shorter; secondaries short 

 and rounded. Tail a slight tuft of loose feathers, fourteen in number. 

 Tongue slender, trigonal, pointed; oesophagus of moderate width; proven- 

 triculus very large, ovate; stomach extremely large, roundish, its muscular 

 coat thin; the epithelium thick, soft, rugous; a small pyloric sac; intestine 

 of moderate length and width; cceca rather long, slender; cloaca very large, 

 globular. Bronchi with the rings entire and ossified. 



