Genus IV.--Anas, Linn. Duck


The definitive website on wildbirds & nature



Birds of America

By John James Audubon, F. R. SS. L. & E.

VOLUME VI.

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GENUS IV.--ANAS, Linn. DUCK.

Bill about the length of the head, somewhat higher than broad at the base, depressed and widened towards the end, rounded at the tip; tipper mandible with the dorsal line sloping, and a little concave, the ridge at the base broad and flat, towards the end broadly convex, as are the sides, the edges soft and rather obtuse, the marginal lamellae numerous, oblique; unguis decurved, obovate; nasal groove elliptical, sub-basal, filled by the soft membrane of the bill; lower mandible flattened, slightly recurvate, with the angle very long and narrow, the unguis roundish, the lamellae numerous. Nostrils sub-basal, elliptical, near the ridge. Head of moderate size, oblong, compressed; neck rather long and slender; body full, depressed. Feet short, stout, placed a little behind the centre of the body; tibia bare a little above the joint; tarsus short, somewhat compressed, anteriorly with small scutella, laterally and behind with angular scales; hind toe extremely small, with a very narrow membrane; third toe longest, fourth a little shorter, but longer than second; all covered with numerous oblique scutella; anterior connected by reticulated membranes. Claws small, arched, compressed, rather acute. Plumage dense, soft. Wings of moderate length, acute; second quill longest, first very little shorter; inner secondaries elongated and tapering; tail short, much rounded, of sixteen feathers. OEsophagus rather narrow, dilated on the lower part of the neck; stomach an extremely muscular, transversely elliptical gizzard; intestine long and rather wide; coeca long. Trachea of the males with a transverse bony unsymmetrical dilatation at the inferior larynx.




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