PH(ENICOPTEEID^ : FLAMINGOES. 
679 
687. P. rii'ber. (Lat. ruber, red. Fig. 469.) American Red Flamingo. Adult ^ 9 : Plu- 
mage scarlet, the primaries and most of the secondaries hlack. Legs lake-red. Bill black on 
the terminal part, orange in the middle, the base and bare skin of head yellow. Young the 
first year white or rosy. Stature nearly 5 feet ; weight 6 or 8 lbs. Length about 4 feet ; extent 
of wings 5 feet or more; wing 16 inches ; tail 6 ; bill 5 ; tibia bare 9 ; tarsus 13 ; middle toe and 
claw 3i. 9 like ^ in color, but smaller. Florida and Gulf coast, and southward ; said to 
have been N. to S. Carolina. Eggs 2, 3.25 X 2.10, with thick shell, roughened with white 
flaky substance, bluish when this is scraped away. The nest is described as a heap of earth 
and other material, which the birds bestride in an ungainly attitude ; but it is not high enough 
to permit their long legs to dangle, as represented in some popular accounts and pictorial 
efforts. A recent writer upon one of the Old World species states positively that the incubating 
bird doubles her legs under her in the usual way ; so that, unless the American species does 
differently, the accompanying illustration must be considered conventional. The young are 
said, on good authority, to take to the water as soon as hatched. 
18. Suborder ANSERES : Anserine Birds Proper. 
Simply equivalent to Lamellirostres as above defined, minus the Grrallatorial type. For 
further characters, see on, under head of the single 
52. Family ANATID^ : G-eese, Ducks, etc. 
jf Bill lamellate, stout, more or less elevated and compressed at 
'^^^^^^^m^^S^^ base, widened or flattened at the obtuse tip, invested with soft, 
^^^^^flwI^B^^^ tough, leathery membrane, except at the end, which is furnished 
^^^^^^^^^^^^ with a hard, horny ''nail," generally somewhat overhanging, 
'^Z^^ y ^^^P ^ sometimes small and distinct, sometimes large and fused ; that is, 
^^^^^p^ changing insensibly into the general covering. (This soft cover- 
" ing is regarded by some as a prolonged cere ; but this is purely 
theoretical.) Body full, heavy, flattened beneath: neck of variable 
Fig. 470. - Wild Duck. , , j . i • , ,> -, p •, 
length; head large; eyes small. No antise ; the frontal feathers 
encroaching on the culmen with a convex or pointed outline, and forming other projections on 
the sides of the bill, and in the interramal space, which latter is broad and long, the mandib- 
ular crura being united only at the end by a broad short bridge ; no culminal ridge nor keel 
of gonys. Nostrils subbasal, median, or subterminal, elevated, open, naked, usually broadly 
oval. Wings of moderate length (rarely very short), stiff, strong, pointed, conferring rapid, 
vigorous, whistling flight ; a wild duck at full speed is said to make ninety miles an hour. 
Tail of variable shape, but usually short and rounded, never forked, sometimes cuneate, of 
12-24 feathers, usually 14-16, the under coverts very long and full, forming a conspicuous 
crissal tuft. Legs short; knees buried in the general integument ; tibiae feathered nearly or 
quite to the suffrago ; tarsi reticulate or scutellate, or both ; toes palmate, the hinder always 
present and free, simple or lobate. Wing occasionally spurred. 
Like the gallinaceous, the anserine type is a familiar one, comprising all kinds of '' water- 
fowl," among which are the originals of all our domestic breeds of swans, geese, and ducks, 
that vie with poultry in point of economic consequence, ornament our parks, or furnish exquisite 
material for wearing apparel, as well as the filling of our pillows and couches. But additional 
information respecting the structure of this, the largest and most important family of swimming 
birds, may be desirable. It is definitely characterized by many important points besides those 
external features just stated. In palatal structure, Anatidce are desmognathous (fig. 78) ; '' the 
lacrymal region of the skull is remarkably long [the lacrymal bone itself is large] . The basi- 
Bphenoidal rostrum has oval sessile basipterygoid facets. The flat and lamellar maxillo-palatines 
