Genus— D ENDROCYGNA. 
Dendrocygna Swainson, Classif. Birds, VoL II., p. 365, 
1837 • • . . . . . . . . . . . . Type D. javanica. 
Also spelt — 
Dendrocycna Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 1880, p. 508. 
Dendronessa Wagler, Isis 1832, p. 281 (not Dendronessa 
Swainson, 1831) . . . . . . . . . . . . Type D. javanica. 
Medium-sized Anatine birds with Anatine bUl, long neck, long wings, short 
tail, very long legs and long toes. 
The bill is long, longer than the head, with the cnlmen ridge ill-defined : 
on the anterior portion scarcely differentiated from the sides, which are some- 
what swollen and expanded. Nostrils are small ovals placed high up near 
the base of the culmen, a shallow obsolete groove being present. The nail 
overhangs the under mandible with a rather pointed tip. The serrations on 
the inner edge of upper mandible are well marked. 
The under mandible has a well-defined nail, the rami almost parallel 
enclosing a narrow unfeathered groove ; serrations obsolete but visible. 
The wing has the second and third primaries equal, little exceeding the 
fourth, whilst the first is less than the fifth. 
The tail is short, only about one-fourth the length of the wing, the 
feathers softish, almost obscured by the long upper tail-coverts. 
The legs are long, a long exposed tibia being present ; the metatarsus 
is covered with reticulate scales, and is about equal to the tail in length and 
longer than the culmen. 
The toes are long and fully webbed ; the middle toe without nail exceeds 
the metatarsus and also the tail in length. 
The hind toe is long and narrowly lobed. 
This and the next genus are representatives of the Analidce known as 
Tree-Ducks ; they are easily recognised by their long stout legs, with long 
exposed tibia and long hind toe. Their peculiar attitude when perched, with 
long thin neck and very long legs, is unmistakable. 
Shufeldt {Emu, Vol. XII., p. 235, 1913) has intimated that : “ Recently, 
I have completed a contribution on the genus Dendrocygna, examining the 
members of the entire genus and two species osteologically. My examination 
60 
