Reptiles and Birds / A Popular Account of Their Various Orders, With a Description of the Habits and Economy of the Most Interesting

by Louis Figuier

I. Natatores, or Palmipedes.

Swimming birds, having the toes united by a membrane; legs placed behind the equilibrium; the body covered with a thick coat of down beneath the feathers. They include the following orders and families:—

I. Brevipennes, Ostriches, Cassowaries, the Penguins, Auks, Guillemots, and Grebes.

II. Longipennes, including the Terns, Gulls, Mews, Petrel, and Albatross.

III. Totipalmates, the Pelicans, Gannets, Cormorants, Frigate Bird, Tropic Bird.

IV. Lamellirostres, the Ducks, Geese, Swans, Flamingos.