mouth.[89] Of fossil Steganopodes we have _Phaëthon_ from the Pliocene of India; three species of _Pelecanus_ from the same formation of the Siwalik hills, one from the Miocene of Bavaria, one from that of Allier in France, and one from the Queensland drifts; while in England that genus is recorded, on the strength of the humerus, radius, and ulna from the Plistocene of Norfolk and from the Isle of Ely. _Sula_ has occurred in the Miocene of Carolina, and of Auvergne and Ronzon in France; the giant _Pelagornis_–akin to _Sula_ and _Pelecanus_, but perhaps indicating a distinct family–has also been found in the Miocene near Bordeaux; and _Argillornis_, related to _Sula_, in the Lower Eocene (London Clay) of England. From the same beds we have the remarkable _Odontopteryx toliapica_, with coarsely serrated edges to the jaws; _Phalacrocorax_ has been met with in the North American Pliocene, the same strata of the Siwalik hills, the Miocene of Allier and the Orléannais in France, and the Pampean of Argentina, _Actiornis anglicus_ of Lydekker being a close ally from the Hampshire Eocene; _Plotus nanus_ has been described from the Mare aux Songes in Mauritius and from Central Madagascar, _P. parvus_ from Queensland. The Sub-Order ARDEAE contains the Families _Ardeidae_ and _Scopidae_, in which the body is often compressed, the head and eyes are large, and the neck is long. Most members of the former have a long, straight, sharp bill with rounded culmen and flattened sides, the edges being commonly serrated and the maxilla notched; it may be comparatively small, as in _Zebrilus_, but is usually stout, and in _Cancroma_ is extraordinarily broad and depressed, with prominent keel and somewhat dilatable skin beneath, the form resembling that of an inverted boat. _Balaeniceps_ (Fig. 27) has a huge beak, which is not only flattened and swollen, but has a ridge on the culmen terminating in a hook, the maxilla having an undulating outline above and following the strong upward curve of the mandible below, while its sides are grooved. So peculiar, indeed, is this bird that it might well stand alone in a Sub-family _Balaenicipitinae_, as opposed to the _Ardeinae_, if not referred to the Storks, where many writers have placed it. In _Scopus_ the bill is acute, keeled, greatly compressed, and laterally grooved, with a small hook at the tip. The tibia is usually bare {87}below, though occasionally feathered, as in _Ardetta_ and _Zebrilus_; the metatarsus being remarkably long, except in such forms as _Nycticorax_, _Botaurus_, and _Ardetta_. The latter member is covered anteriorly with transverse or hexagonal scales, which become smaller or reticulated behind, and show a decided tendency to fusion in many cases. The toes are long, with a distinct web between the middle and outer; the claws are generally short and curved, though elongated, slender, and nearly straight in _Botaurus_ and _Ardetta_; that of the middle digit being toothed on the