ORNITHOLOGY. 



63.3 



Palmi- other parts of America, roosting at night on trees, whence, 

 pedes, should one approach, they drop into the water as if dead; 

 """* and on emerging at a distance, show only their long slen- 

 der necks and heads, which bear so much resemblance to 

 those of serpents, that this species is frequently named the 

 snake-bird. 



The tropic birds, genus Phaeton, which form the last 

 group of this section, bear a considerable resemblance to 

 the gannets, but are readily distinguished by the two 

 extremely elongated feathers of their tail, on account of 

 which the French give them the not inappropriate name 

 of paille-en-qneue. Their head is entirely feathered ; their 

 bill straightish, tapering, pointed, and denticulated on the 

 edges; their feet are short, and their wings long. The 

 flight of these birds is rapid and buoyant, and they are 

 often seen far out at sea. As they seldom extend their 

 range beyond the tropics, their occurrence apprises navi- 

 gators of their entrance into the warmer regions. They 

 perch and nestle upon trees. 



Two species are distinguished ; — the common, or white- 

 tailed tropic bird, Phaeton athereus ; and the red-tailed 

 species, Ph. phcenicurus. The former is white, with the 

 ocular region and shoulders black, the primary quills of 

 the same colour, and the bill red. It inhabits the Atlantic 

 Ocean. The latter is of a pale rose-colour, or reddish 

 white, with the ocular region and wing-coverts deep black, 

 and the two elongated feathers of the tail red. It occurs 

 in the Indian and African Seas, at Madagascar, the Cape 

 of Good Hope, the Isle of France, and many of the South 

 Sea islands. 



FAMILY IV— LAMELLIROSTRES. 



The birds of this family are readily distinguished from 

 those of the preceding by the peculiar structure of the 

 bill, which has its margins furnished with horny lamellae, or 

 dentiform processes, and its surface covered with soft skin, 

 in place of the horny envelope which is spread over that 

 of the other Palmipedes. The tongue, which is broad and 

 fleshy, has its margins also lamellate ; the gizzard is ex- 

 tremely muscular, although not of large capacity, and the 

 caeca are rather long. Another remarkable distinction is 

 found in the lower larynx, which generally has a very ex- 

 traordinary dilatation in the males. Their body is usually 

 somewhat depressed, their wings of moderate length, their 

 feet short, and their neck more or less elongated, some- 

 times of extreme length. They swim with ease, but walk 

 in a constrained and vacillating manner ; and are for the 

 most part phytophagous, though many feed on mollusca, 

 Crustacea, and fishes. They occur in all parts of the 

 globe, — some being maritime, but the greater number 

 lacustrine or fluviatile, that is, frequenting lakes or rivers. 

 They are naturally arranged into two groups; — the one 

 (Analidce) comprising the swans, geese, and ducks ; the 

 other (Mergidce) composed of the mergansers. 



The great group of AnatidcB includes all those web- 

 footed birds which have their bill large and broad, covered 

 with a thin membrane, and having its edges furnished with 

 transverse or oblique lamellae, the object of which seems 

 to be to allow the water to escape when the bird has 

 seized its food. Vegetable substances, especially seeds, 

 roots, and blades of grasses, form the principal nourish- 

 ment of many of the species ; but others feed on fishes, 

 mollusca, insects, and worms. The piscivorous species 

 dive in pursuit of their prey, while those which feed on 

 vegetable matter either procure it on shore, or along the 

 margins of the water, or, while floating on the surface, ob- 

 tain it from some depth by means of their long neck. The 

 flesh of many of these birds is much esteemed, but is not 

 so readily digestible as that of the waders and gallinaceous 



order. Many of them moult twice in the year, and after 

 the summer change the males assume in part the colours 

 peculiar to the females, which, on the contrary, exhibit no 

 variation. They generally breed in marshy places, and 

 deposit numerous eggs. The young, which are at first 

 covered with stiffish down, are capable of walking and 

 swimming immediately alter birth. 



The characters by which the subdivisions of this group 

 are distinguished are derived chiefly from the form of the 

 bill. In the swan that organ is as broad at its fore part 

 as at the base, where its height is greater than its breadth, 

 and the nostrils are placed about the middle. In the 

 geese, the bill is shorter than the head, higher than broad 

 at the base, and narrower towards the end. Lastly, in the 

 ducks properly so called, the bill is at least as broad at its 

 extremity as at the base, where it is broader than high ; 

 the nostrils are placed on the back of the bill near the 

 base. In the swans the neck is extremely long, in the 

 geese of moderate length, and in the ducks generally rather 

 short. 



The swans, genus Cygnus, are the largest birds of the 

 family, and are characterized by the elegance of their form, 

 and the graceful ease with which they glide over the sur- 

 face of the water, although on land their motions are more 

 constrained. Their body is large, their neck extremely 

 elongated, their head oblong, their wings large, and their 

 feet short and strong. They live chiefly on the seeds and 

 roots of aquatic plants, and nestle among the reeds by the 

 margins of lakes and rivers. They are strictly monoga- 

 mous, and the young swim and walk immediately after 

 exclusion. 



The wild swan, Cygnus ferus, has the bill yellow at the 

 base, and black towards the end, the plumage pure white, 

 but in the young of a gray colour. It is readily distin- 

 guished from the domestic swan by having the base of the 

 bill flattened above, and by the curvature formed by the 

 wind-pipe, which enters into a cavity in the crest of the 

 sternum, from which it is reflected anteriorly, and then 

 passes into the thorax. This species inhabits the northern 

 regions of both continents, whence it migrates southward 

 on the approach of winter, remaining in the temperate 

 countries until the return of spring. The female lays from 

 five to seven or eight eggs, of a whitish colour tinged with 

 olive, and is said to incubate six weeks. The flesh and 

 eggs are highly esteemed, and the skins are prepared with 

 the down to be made into garments. The down itself 

 forms an article of commerce, which is in considerable de- 

 mand in the colder countries of Europe. The song of the 

 swan is familiar to all the lovers of poetry ; but, like many 

 equally accredited facts, has no real existence; for the cry 

 of this bird, although clear and shrill, is never modulat- 

 ed into harmony. When heard at a distance, however, 

 especially from a flock on wing, it is extremely pleasing. 

 Another fable regarding the vast strength of wing of this 

 bird was long believed, — a blow from it being alleged 

 as sufficient to break a man's thigh. " It is high time," 

 says Montagu, " such absurdities should be erased in this 

 philosophic age, and that the mind of man should reason 

 before he continues to relate such accounts, only calcu- 

 lated to frighten children. Let the bones of the wing of 

 the swan be examined, and compared with the thigh of a 

 man, or even of his arm, and it will be evident that it 

 would be as impossible for a swan to break a man's arm, 

 as it would be to break his head with a reed. The bone 

 of a man's arm would bear a pressure fifty times as great 

 as the bone of a swan's wing ; how, then, is the inferior in 

 size and strength to break the superior, without at least 

 being itself fractured? It should also be recollected, that 

 a bird is incapable of striking with any degree of force 

 while all its quill-feathers are perfect, the resistance of 

 the air against such a surface being too great to allow of 



Palmi- 

 pedes. 



