420 
BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
p. 
Pal mate, 1 Web-footed ; having the anterior toes full-webbed. Compare Semi- 
f palmate and Totipalmate. 
£ Pertaining to a marsh or swamp. 
Pal'mated. 
Pal'miped 
Pal u'dicole.—Marsh-inhabitating. 
Pal'udine. 
Palus'trine. ) 
Pap ilia.—Small fleshy nipple-like prominence. 
Par'asite.—In Oology, a species which constructs no nest and performs none of the 
duties of incubation or rearing of the young, but imposes on other birds for 
this purpose. A parasitic bird is also a species which obtains its food by syste¬ 
matically robbing other species; as the Parasitic Jaeger (Stercorariuspara¬ 
siticus). Bald Eagle (Haliceetus leucocephalus). 
Parasi'tic.—Habitually making use of other birds’ nests. 
Pas seres.—A group of birds including the sparrows and all the higher birds. 
Pas'serine.—Sparrow-like. Belonging to the group of Passeres. 
Pearl Blue.—A very pale purplish blue color. 
Pearl Gray.—A very pale delicate blue-gray color, like the mantle of certain gulls. 
Pec'tinate. ) Having tootli-like projections, like those of a comb, as in the toes of 
Pec tinated. ) a heron or grouse. 
Pec'toral.—Pertaining to the breast. 
Pec'tus.—The breast. 
Pelag ic.—Frequenting the high seas. 
Phase.—Used more especially in the case of dichromatic species, as the melan- 
istic phase, the rufescent phase, etc. 
Pi' ci.—The name of a natural group, or order, of zygodactyle birds, comprising the 
woodpeckers and wrynecks. 
Pig'men t.—Coloring-matter. 
Pil'eus ) 
^ * > The cap; top of head from base of bill to nape. 
Pil'eum. ) 
Pink.—A dilute rose-red color. 
Pin'nate. ) Having little wing-like tufts of elongated feathers on the side of the 
Pin'nated. ) neck. 
Pin'tailed.—Having the central tail-feathers elongated and narrowly acuminate, as 
in the male Pintail Duck (Dafila acuta). 
Pisciv'orous.—Fish-eating. 
Plu'mage.—The leathers, collectively. 
Plum'beous.—A deep bluish-gray color, like tarnished lead ; lead-color. 
Polyg'ainous—Mating with many females, as the domestic cock. 
Poste'rior.—(Upper or Lower) Parts.—The hinder half of a bird, above or below. 
Postoc'ular. ) 
Postor'bital. \ Back of ’ or P osterior to > the e y e - 
Pow der-down Feath'ers.—Peculiar imperfect feathers, in a matted patch, which 
grow continually, and as constantly break down, with a scrufy exfoliation, 
and pervaded with a greasy substance; they are especially conspicuous in 
the heron tribe, but are also found elsewhere. 
Primary.—Any one of the quill-feathers of the “hand-wing,” usually nine to eleven 
in number. Used chiefly in the plural, as distinguished from the secondaries 
or those remiges which grow upon the forearm. 
Pri'mary Cov'erts.—The series of stiff feathers, usually corresponding with the 
primaries in their graduation, which overlie the basal portion of the latter. 
Pune tate.—Dotted. 
Pu pil.—Central black disc circumscribed by the iris ; a hole , not a substance. 
Pur ple.—A color intermediate between red and blue. 
Pygopo'des.—A group of swimming birds, containing the families Podicipididce, 
Colymbidce and Alcidce , distinguished by the extreme posterior position of 
the legs. 
Pyriform.—Pear-shaped. 
