169 
CHAPTER VII. 
palmipedes; web-footed SERRATED or tooth- 
billed. GEESE; FLOCKS OF HOW MANAGED 
PLUCKING SINGULAR ATTACHMENT SAGACITY — - 
COURAGE OF. TREE GEESE. SWANS; MUSCULAR 
STRENGTH — COURAGE. BLACK SWANS. TRADE IN 
SWAN QUILLS. 
Table XXVI. (See vol. i., p. 22.) 
Order 6 . Palmipedes ( Web-footed ). Tribe 1. Serri- 
rostres (or Tooth-billed ). Table XXVII. 
We now come to the last order, consisting of those 
birds which are evidently calculated for swimming; 
having their toes connected with a web, extending 
nearly to the nails. There are, however, some few 
not classed here, although they are undoubtedly web- 
footed, — for instance, the Avosets and Flamingoes; 
but these, as has been already noticed, are not 
swimmers, their webs being of use only in supporting 
them, as they tread lightly over marshy grounds. 
The first genus is that of the Anas , comprising Geese 
and Ducks, whose beaks all, more or less, partake of 
the toothed or serrated character, represented in the 
plate of the Shoveller-Duck's Bill (vol. i., p. 34), for 
the obvious purpose of feeding in the manner there 
mentioned. 
Notwithstanding certain points of resemblance, 
connecting Swans, Geese, and Ducks under one head, 
there are, nevertheless, some peculiarities in each, 
fully justifying the various subdivisions adopted by 
modern naturalists ; by whom they have been, accord- 
