383 AYES. 



parallel to its edges. The nostrils are oval, and situated at a short 

 distance from the origin of each groove. Their small tongue, reti- 

 culated legs, the extent of the membranes of their feet, their two 

 very small caeca, their but slightly muscular gizzard, and their lower 

 larynx destitute of peculiar muscles, are the same as in the Storks, 

 but the expansion of their bill deprives it of all its strength, and 

 renders it fit for nothing but turning up mud, or capturing small fish 

 or aquatic insects. 



P. leucorodia, Gm.; Enl. 405; Naum. Supp. 44, f. 87. (The 

 White Spoonbill.) All white, and a crest on the occiput; it is 

 found throughout the eastern continent, where it builds on high 

 trees. The " Spatule blanche sans huppe," Buff, Hist, des Ois. 

 tom. VII, pi. 24, according to Bail, is but the young of this 

 species. Besides the absence of the crest, it is distinguished by 

 the quills of the wings having a black edge. 



P. aiaia; La Spatule rose; Enl. 165; Vieill. Gal. 248. (The 

 Roseate Spoonbill.) The face is naked, and the plumage tinged 

 with various shades of a bright rose-colour which becomes more 

 intense with age. It is peculiar to South America. 



FAMILY IV. 



LONGIROSTRES. 



This family Is composed of a multitude of Waders, most of 

 which were included in the genus Scolopax of LinnsBus, and 

 the remainder confounded in that of Tringa, L., though partly 

 in opposition to the character of this genus, which consists in 

 a thumb too short to reach the ground. A small number were 

 placed among the Plovers on account of the total absence of a 

 thumb. All these birds have nearly the same form, similar 

 habits and very frequently even a similarity in the distribu- 

 tion of their colours, which renders it a difficult matter to dis- 

 tinguish one from another. Their general character is a long, 

 slender, and feeble bill, the use of which is restricted to search- 

 ing in the mud for worms and insects; the different gradations 

 in the form of this bill serve to divide them into genera 

 and subgenera. 



According to his own principles, Linnaeus should have 

 united most of these birds in the great genus 



