194 ROSEATE SPOONBILL.
oyates rather compact above, blended beneath. Wings long and very
broad ; primaries firm, broad, tapering, but rounded, the second longest,
the third next, the first a quarter®! an inch shorter ; secondaries broad
and broadly rounded. Tail', short, even, of twelve rather broad,
abruptly rounded feathers.
Bill yellowish-grey at the base, mottled with brownish-black, in the
rest of its extent pale greenish-blue., light on the margins ; base of
margin of lower mandible greenish-yellow. Iris bright carmine, i'cet
pale lake ; claws brownish-black. I lead yellowish-green ; space around
the ey e and the gular sae orpimenti orange:; aband of black from the
lower mandible to the occiput. Foitthers of the neck white. Back
and wings of a beautiful delicate rose colour ; the lower parts of a
deeper tint ; the tuft of recurvcd feathers* on the fore neck, a broad
band aeross the wing along the cubitus, and the upper and lowei tailcóverts,
of a rich and pure carmine with silky lustre. Thè shafts of
all the quills and scapulars are light carmine. On each side of the
lower part of the neck and fore part of the body & patch of pale ochre.
Tail feathers odhre-yellow, but at "the base pale roseate, with the shafts
carmine.
Length to end of tail 30} inches, to end of wings 29 J, to end of
claws 36 ';' extent o'i' wings 53 ; bill 7 ; breadth of gape Ig. depth of
pouch 2 ; breadth .if bill at the base If ; at the end 2m lare part of
tibia 3 ; tarsus 4 ; hind toe and claw l^g ; second toe and claw 2t'J ;
middle toe and alaw 3A ; outer toe and claw wing from flexure
15£ ; tail 4f. Weight 4 lb. 2 oz<
The female is smaller, but resembles the male. -
Length to end of tail 28 inches, to end of wings 28, to end of claw«
35f ; extent of wings 48. Weight: 3 lb.
The affinities of this remarkable bird being variously represented
by authors, it becomes a matter of considerable interesito determine
its relations according to its internal organs. The skin is thin, but
tough, and the subcutaneous cellular tissue sfj&argely developed. In
these respects its affinity is to the Ibises and Curlews, as much at least
as to any other birds. On the roof of the mouth are two rows of blunt
papillae, as in many Scolopacidse. The tongue is .extremely small,
being only 3 twelfths of an inch in length, but 7 twelfths in breadth at
the base, where it is emarginate and furnished with numerous delicate
ROSEATE SPOONBILL. 195
papillae, ¡the outer mucfelargi. The. gular membrane js.very dilatable
an.) of the same genera! nature as that of th.. Cormorants and.-Pelicans,
having a longitudji.ial seirfcs.pf muscular libres, sdong the centre, with
two layers .of fasciculi in,tfrp..scd ibet^eea the external .skin and the
internal, tho inner fasciculi runningpfffajleltj) the lower mandible, the
outer transversely. The bill, is similar,!., that of the Pelican's,modified,
the middle part or ridge being flattened, and the unguis abbreviated.
.¡The breadth of the mouth is within l^- inch, ; The external
aperture .1(1',th.: ear is roundish, 4 twelfths .in diameter,, t h a t of .the meatus
oblique. oblong, 3 twelfths .across. The oesophagus, a b, is 17 inches
long (including the proventriculus, as in all the ¡other .measurements,) ;
Jit? diameter at. the top %inch,at the,distance of . » inched it,contracts
t., 5 twelfths, then for ¡our incli.Bi.onliirgcs^ luiviugits greatest ¡diameter
1 ,v inch.; .hot-weim tho convoi.! boncft-it again contracta.to half an inch,
and.p(i entering tho thorax on largos-;to an inch. The .provmitriculus
¡p.btdbiform,; 1J inch .long, its glandules very large,.,cylindrical, :,the
longest being i inch, anil I twelfth in diameter. The stomach, c d, is a
powerful gizzard of.a roundish form, 1 inch 11 twelfths long, and 1. inch
10 twelfths broad ; the muscular fibres disposed in laçgç, fasciculi all
aioirnd, but not forming Ji^tinct lateral muscles,; .;t&e-,central tendpns:
.very large,-being 10 twelfths in diameter ; thé cuticular lining excessively
thick,,of a rather soft texture, divided,by deep longitudinal irregular
fissures, its greatesj|thicknp#ibeing,about half-an-inch. The
intestine def is very .king, measuring 8 loot.!»,- hushes, of moderate
¡iiame.t«i varying from 1 to twelfths. It is, oempacth and beautifully
• arranged in .very numerous somewhat concimtricfolcls, .being coiled up
like a rope, the duodenum de, .curving baçkyards.sind upwiffds;Oiver the
stoenachfor five inches, then returning, and enclosing the .pancreas, until
,oeder :the,;rightl5iie,..pf the liver, where.»it.,feeewss!;iSe:jbiliary ducts.
The cloaca is globular, 2 inches in diameter jvhen distended ; the rectum,
exclusive of the cloaca 3J inches, .and having -,at [its upper extremity
two bulging knobs in place of occca., Now.- the oesophagus snd
proventriculus,aie.ithose pf a Numenius, the stomach that of .a Heron
in the arrangement pf its fasciculi, and in the softness of its epithelium
; but ptherwise it differs in being much larger and more muscular,
The intestines are thicker and more muscular than .those :of
Herons, and . differ more especially in ha,ving twP coecal appendages,
winch heweyer are extremely shert, whereas the herons have,merely
a single ccecal prominence.
w 2