Brachyptera (i.e. 'short-winged'), an ornithological term sometimes applied to such peculiarly aquatic birds as auks, puffins, penguins, grebes, guillemots, and divers proper (Colymbus). The term Divers (q.v.) is often used with the same meaning.
Brachyptera
Chambers's Encyclopaedia, Volume 2: Beaugency to Cataract, p. 381
Source scan(s): p. 0392