FAM. XLIX. FLAMINGOES 



275 



and swung from side to side, the food, which consists mainly of 

 mollusks, being thus scraped up. 



1. Roseate Spoonbill (183. Ajaja (i-\-zt-i) ajaja). — A very 



large, rare, soutliern, pink or rosy-colored ibis-like bird, with a 



head bare of feathers, and a bill much broadened at the tip, like 



a spoon. The sides of neck and end of the tail are buff, and the 



neck and upper back nearly white. The young has the head 



feathered. These birds are generally in flocks, and the nesting 



is in colonies. (Pink " Curlew.") 



Length, 28-35; wing, 15; tail, 4^; tarsus, 4^; culmen, 6f. South 

 Atlantic and Gulf States, south to Patagonia. 



ORDER XII. TOOTH-BILLED WADERS (.ODONTO- 

 GLOSS^) 



An order consisting of the following: 



FAMILY XLLX. FLAMINGOES 

 (PIICEXICUPTERID.E) 



A small family (7 species) of large, exceedingly 

 long-legged, long-necked, web-footed, semi-tropical 

 birds, with peculiarly bent bill, the edges of 

 which are furnished with ridges or lamellae, 

 like those of the ducks. 



1. American Flamingo (182. Phceni- 

 cdpterus ruber). — A southern, ex- 

 ceedingly tall, rosy to vermilion- 

 colored wading bird, with black 

 wing quills, and a peculiar, heav}-, 

 abruptly bent bill. The toes of the 

 flamingo are fully webbed, and the 

 lamellae of the bill are used as 

 strainers (as in the case of the 

 ducks) through which the sand and 

 mud are separated from tlie food. 

 These birds gather in flocks in shal- 



American Flamingo 



