This page has been validated.
304
ANSERES.—ALCADÆ.
birds of this Family; some of which roam hundreds of miles out to sea.
Genus Fratercula. (Briss.)
This is a remarkable genus, in which the beak rivals, in its development, the monstrous proportions which are seen in the Toucans and Hornbills. This organ, shorter than the head, is
![Beak of Puffin](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3c/Natural_History%2C_Birds_-_Puffin_beak.jpg/400px-Natural_History%2C_Birds_-_Puffin_beak.jpg)
BEAK OF PUFFIN.
higher than its length, somewhat triangular in outline, very much compressed, with both mandibles arched to the point: the culmen or ridge as high as the top of the head, with a cutting edge, the sides cut into transverse furrows; the corners of the mouth bordered with a dilatable skin; the nostril is a narrow slit placed close to the inner angle of the mandible. The wings are short, narrow, and pointed; the legs, placed far back,