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LAMELLIROSTRAL SWIMMERS — ANSERES. 
Anserinse. Neck moderately long (shorter than the body) ; size variable (usually medium, 
never very large) ; bill not longer than the head, tapering to the end, which is chiefly 
occupied by the large, broad nail ; tarsus longer than the middle toe ; lores feathered ; 
tail-feathers 14-20 ; color extremely variable." 
Anatinae. Neck moderately long (shorter than the body) ; size variable (usually small or 
medium) ; bill extremely variable ; tarsus shorter than the middle toe ; lores usually 
feathered ; tail-feathers 14-18 ; color extremely variable. 
Sub-family CYGNINzE, Bonaparte. — The Swans.* 
“ 1838. — Cygnince, Bp. Comp. List, p. 55. 
1850. — - Cygnidce, Ivaup (fide Gray). 
1852. — • Olorince, Reichb. Syst. Av. p. x. 
1860. — Cycnidce, Des Mims, Tr. Ool. Ornith. p. 537. 
“ Diagn. Anatidce having the hind toe without web and the lores naked, coincident with reticulate 
tarsi, the latter shorter than the middle with the claw. 
“ Neck very long, as long as, or longer than, the body. Bill longer than the head, broad, and 
of nearly equal breadth for the whole length, rounded at the end, culmen high, depressed at the 
tip ; nail rather large, only slightly arched ; lamellae of upper mandible vertical, in one row ; 
nostrils situated nearly at the middle of the bill, in the fore part of the oblong nasal sinus. Lores 
naked in the adults ; in all species, except one, thinly covered with small down or feathers in the 
young. Legs short, stout ; lower part of tibia naked ; tarsi compressed, much shorter than the 
middle toe with the claw, and covered with small hexagonal plates, the size of which diminishes 
laterally and posteriorly ; the anterior toes reticulate as far as the second joint, then scutellate ; 
middle toe longest, longer than the tarsus, the outer longer than the inner, which has a broad 
margin ; hind toe short, elevated, and without web, the claws strong, arched, compressed, except 
the middle, which is only compressed on the one side, the claw of the inner toe in old birds the 
largest and most arched. Wings long, ample, the inner remiges highly developed, with about 32 
quills. Tail composed of 20-24 rectrices, short, rounded, or cuneate. 
“ Sexes similar. 
“ The preceding marks combined appear to express the essential characters of the Cygnince. By 
this diagnosis I follow Mr. Sundevall in excluding the genus Coscoroba, Reichb., wdiich has the 
lores feathered at all ages. . . . The removal of Coscoroba to the Anatince will be discussed more 
explicitly below. The criterion 1 tarsi reticulate ’ further excludes the genera Cairina, Flem., 
and Pledropterus, Leach, which, it is true, have the lores naked, but the tarsi of which are scutel- 
late instead of reticulate. Anseranas, Less., has certainly both naked lores and reticulate, tarsi, but 
differs in having the tarsus longer than the middle toe with claw. 
“ Anatidce which do not at once unite all the above characters consequently belong to one of 
the other sub-families.” 
“ Synopsis of the Genera. 
a 1 . Predominant color of the adults white ; young with downy or feathered lores ; tertiaries and 
scapulars normal, not crisp; tail longer than the middle toe with claw. 
b 1 . Tail cuneate ; the young with the down on the sides of the bill not forming loral antise.t 
c 1 . Inner webs of outer four primaries and outer webs of the second, third, fourth, and 
fifth sinuated ; the young with the down on the sides of the bill reaching almost 
to the nostrils ; webs of the feet scalloped. 
* In the preparation of this article on the Cygnince much use has been made of the very valuable 
“Outlines of a Monograph of the Cygnince ,” by Dr. Leonhard Stejneger, published in Yol. 5 of the 
“Proceedings of the U. S. National Museum,” pp. 174-221. The matter taken directly therefrom is 
inclosed in quotation marks. 
f This term denotes the projecting angle of the loral feathering at the base of the bill. 
