Bill strong, either sharply pointed or hooked at tip; nostrils wanting
or obsolete; neck moderate to very long; all the toes united by a web;
chin naked and forming a more or less distensible pouch. Birds of large
size, seagoing and fish-eating. The totipalmate feet and obsolete
nostrils are the most obvious peculiarities of this order. [23]
Eggs bluish or white, with a white chalky covering.
Families.
a1. Tail not forked; webs between toes entire or but slightly
emarginate.
b1. Bill subcylindrical; gular pouch small.
c1. Bill strongly hooked. ... Phalacrocoracidæ (p. 200)
c2. Bill sharply pointed.
d1. Neck longer than body; bill slender; culmen nearly
straight. ... Anhingidæ (p. 202)
d2. Neck about one-half as long as body; bill heavy; culmen
decurved for terminal fourth. ... Sulidæ (p. 203)
b2. Bill greatly flattened, widened near tip; gular pouch very
large. ... Pelecanidæ (p. 208)
a2. Tail deeply forked; webs between toes deeply incised. ... Fregatidæ
(p. 206)
Family PHALACROCORACIDÆ.
Bill long and heavy; basal portion of culmen slightly concave, tip
strongly decurved and hooked; neck rather long; wings ample but not
reaching beyond base of tail, the latter rather long, its feathers
graduated and stiff; plumage largely black, at times partly white.
Genus PHALACROCORAX Brisson, 1760.
Characters same as those given for the Family.