PLATALEIDJ2 THE SPOONBILLS. 102* 



FAMILY PLATALEID^J. THE SPOONBILLS. 



CHAE. Large-sized Ibis-like birds, with the bill greatly flattened and expanded term- 

 inally. Bill deep through the base (the culmen ascending), but immediately flattened ; nar- 

 rowest across the middle portion, the end widely expanded, the tip rounded and decurved. 

 Nostrils superior, longitudinal, without surrounding or ovei hanging membrane; nasal 

 fossae prolonged forward in a narrow, continuous groove to the extreme tip of the bill (as 

 in the Ibises), its course nearly (or in some genera quite) parallel with the lateral outline 

 of the maxilla; approximate surfaces of maxilla and mandible with one or two rows of 

 more or less prominent tooth-like papilke along each side. Tarsus longer than middle 

 toe, and with small longitudinal hexagonal scales in front; outer toe decidedly longer than 

 inner, its claw reaching to the base of the middle claw; hallux nearly incumbent, about 

 equal to the basal phalanx of the inner toe; bare portion of tibia longer than outer toe; 

 web between inner and middle toes we'll developed. Wings ample, reaching about to the 

 end of the tail, the primaries a little longer than the tertiais. Tail short, even, of twelve 

 stiff, broad, round-ended feathers. 



The Spoonbills are closely related to the Ibises, but differ con- 

 spicuously in the flattened, paddle-shaped bill, as well as in 

 some other minor characters. They belong chiefly to the east- 

 ern hemisphere, where six or seven species, representing three 

 genera, occur, the western hemisphere possessing but a single 

 species, of different generic type from those of the Old World. 



GENUS AJAJA REICHENBACH. 



Ajaja EBICHENB. Handb. 1851, xvi. Type, Platalea ajctfa 



GEN. CHAB. Bill much expanded and excessively depressed terminally, the tip de- 

 curved, much broader than deep at the base, the middle portion contracted to considerably 

 less than one half the width of the terminal "disk." Nostrils sub-basal, superior, near to- 

 gether, longitudinal, and without adjacent membrane. Head completely bald in the adult 

 (feathered almost to the bill in the young). Legs comparatively short, the tarsus but little 

 longer than the middle toe, covered in front, as well a,s all round, with small, longitudinal, 

 hexagonal scales. Plumage of the neck short, downy. 1 



1 A special modification of the trachea further distinguishes the genus Ajaja from 

 Platalea, according to Professor GARROD (P. Z. S. 1875, p. 299, fig. 2), who describes this 

 organ as "simple, straight, of uniform calibre, and peculiarly short, extending only two 

 thirds the neck, where the uncomplicated syrinx is situated, and the bifurcation of the 

 bronchi occurs." In Platalea, on the other hand, the trachea is "convoluted within the 

 thorax," etc. (Bee YARBELL, Hist. Brit. B. vol. ii, p. 504.) 



