OCR Text |
Show 422 AVES. lous story of its growing on trees like fruit-.llnas erythropus, Gm., or better .fln. leucopsis, Dechst. Enl. 885; Frisch, 189; Naum. I, c. 39, f. 77. Its mantle is ash-coloured, its neck black; cheeks, throat, belly and forehead white; the bill black and the feet grey. .!J.n. bernicla, Gm.; Le Cravant,(1) Enl. 342;~and better Frisch, 156; Naum. I, c. 39, f. 78; Wils., VIII, lxxii, 1 (The Brant), is from the same country. The head, neck, and quills of the wings are black, the mantle a brown-grey; a spot on each side of the upper part of the neck, and the under part of the tail, whit-e; the bill black and feet brown. .lln. regyptiaca, Gm.; Le Bernache armee; Oie d' Egypte, ~c. ~c. Enl. 379, 982, 983 (The Egyptian Goose), remarkable for the lustre of its colours and the small spur attached to its wing, also belongs to this subgenus; it is sometimes domesticated, but always retains a propensity to return to its wild state. It is the Cltenalopex or Fox Goose, held in veneration among the ancient Egyptians on account of its attachment to its young.(2) The CEREOPSis, Lath. Is a New Holland bird very similar to the Bernacles, with a still smaller bill, the membrane of which is much broader, and extends a little upon the forehead. Ger. cinereus, Lath., Col. 206; Vieill. Gal. 284, is the onlyone known. It is the size of a Goose, and of a grey colour. ANAs, Meyer. Ducks,· properly so called, have the bill broader at base than it i's high, and wider at the end than towards the head; the nostrils nearer to its back and base. Their legs being shorter than those of Geese, and placed farther back, renders walking more difficult to them than to the latter. Their neck also is shorter; the trachea is inflated at its bifurcation into cartilaginous capsules, the left of which is usually the largest. · The species of the first division, or those whose thumb is bor· (1) Cravant, a corruption of g;rau cnt, grey Duck. (2) Geoff. St. Hillaire, Menag. du Mus. d'Hist. Nat. art. Oie d'Egypte. Add the .lln. magellanica, Enl. 1006;-..lln. antarctica, which is closely allied to it, Mus., Carls., 37, and Voy. de J.a Coq. Zool. 50;-.lln. leucoptera, Brown., Ill. 40;-.11.. ru.ficollia and torquata, Pall. Spicil., VI, pl. iv, which is said to penetrate as fat• as Germany;-.IJ.n. coromandelica, Bnl. 94·9, 950;-.ll.n. madngn8cariensis, Enl. 770. PALMU)EDES. 423 dcred with a membrane, have a larger head, a shorter neck, the feet placed farther back, smaller wings, a stiffer tail, more compressed tarsi, longer toes, and the membrane of the feet more entire. They walk with more diffic.ulty, feed more exclusively on fish and insects, and dive more frequently.(!) Among them we may distinguish the 0IDEMIA, Fleming. Dy the breadth and inflation of the bill. .!J.nas nigra, L.; La Mac1·euse commune, Enl. 972; Naum. Supp. 14-, f. 28 and 29; Brit. Zool. pl. 2, 6; Wils. VIII, lxxii, 2 (The Seater), is all black, greyish when young; the bill very broad with a protuberance on its base. It is found in large flocks on the coast of France, where it feeds chiefly on muscles. The .IJ.n. cineraceus, N aum., I, C. 60, f. 91, 92, is the young female. .fin. fusca, L.; La double Macreuse, Enl. 956; Frisch, 165; Naum. I, c. Supp. f. 15 and 16; Wils. LXXII, 3 (The Velvet Duck), differs in its superior size, a white spot on the wing, and a white streak under the eye. There is a circular, vertically flattened inflation in the middle of its trachea. JJ.n. perspicillata, L.; Enl. 995; Edw. 155; Wils. VIII, lxvii, 1. (The Black Duck.) Some white on the occiput and behind the neck; the naked and yellow skin of the base of its bill also surrounds the eyes. New Holland produces a speckled species, remarkable for a large fleshy appendage that hangs under its bill, .!ln. lobata, Nat. Misc., VIII, pl. 255, and Col. 406.(2) We may also separate CLANGULA, Leach. In which the bill is short and narrower towards the end; and place first on the list, those species the middle quills of whose tail are the longest, which renders it pointed. Such are .lln. glacialis, L., Enl. 1008; Edw. 280; Naum. 52, f. 76; Wils. VIII, lxx, 1, 2; the young male, Enl. 999; Naum. 52, f. 76, B; the adult in wedding livery, Edw. 156. (The Long-tailed Duck.) (1} This division constitutes the genus PLATYPus, Brehm.; or HYDROBATn, Tern.; or FuLIGWLA, Ch. Bonap. . (2) Add the .flnas mersa and leucocephala, Voy. de Pall. fr. tt•., pl. v ~d VJ; Naum. Sup. 40, f. 79, 80;-thc .lln. !Jrackyptera, La.tb., Voy. de Freycm. pl. xxxix. |