Family XLIV. ALCINAE. AUKS.
GENUS III. PHALERIS, Temm. PHALERIS

Bill shorter than the head, stout, straightish, broad at the base, compressed toward the end; upper mandible with a prominent basal rim as in the Puffin, its dorsal line convex and declinate, the sides sloping, the edges sharp, with a deep sinus close to the narrow, declinate, blunt tip; lower mandible with the angle rather long and wide, the dorsal line ascending and a little convex, the sides sloping outwards, the edges sharp, the tip ascending, obliquely truncate. Nostrils linear-oblong, direct, near the margin, in the horny part of the bill. Head rather large, ovate; neck short and thick; body full and compact. Feet short, placed far behind; tibia bare below; tarsus very short, much compressed, anteriorly scutellate; toes three, connected by emarginate webs; middle and outer toes of the same length. Claws rather stout, moderately arched, compressed, rather obtuse. Plumage dense, blended, soft. Wings of moderate length, very narrow, pointed. Tail very short, rounded, of fourteen feathers.