Mergansers, with slender, toothed bills with which to catch the fish they pursue under water.
Other ducks have rather broad bills, more or less resembling those of the domestic duck. Their flight is rapid and direct. River ducks have no web, or flap, on the hind toe; they get their food without going entirely under water, by tipping up. Sea ducks have a broad flap on the hind toe.
ORDER 6. FLAMINGOES. Odontoglossæ.
Family Phoenicopteridæ:—Large, long-necked, pink birds with a crooked box-like bill, long legs and webbed feet.
ORDER 7. HERONS, IBISES, ETC. Herodiones.
Long-legged, wading birds, with all four toes long, slender and without webs. Usually found about the muddy edges of ponds, lakes or creeks, and less often on the sea shore. Wings large and rounded.
SPOONBILL. Family Plataleidæ:—Bill long, thin and much broadened at the end; head bare.