of the species of Flamingo. 439 



to point out the difFcrences of conformation that exist among 

 them by taking the bill of the Mediterranean species as the 

 typical form. 



This is exhibited in Figure 1, which shows certain characters, 

 viz. : — the posterior margin at the base of the lower mandible 

 narrowed and straight; the lateral margin beneath arched 

 for a short distance from the base, the apex of the arch angu- 

 lated in front ; between these lateral basal arches the space 

 or mentum is naked, with the feathers of the neck advancing 

 slightly forward in the form of a point. This last character 

 is also found in the three next species. Figure 2 represents the 

 bill of a very old Indian example, which is considered to be a 

 variety of the former ; but there are several slight differences in 

 it : for instance, the angulation beneath the lower mandible 

 appears stronger, and its tip seems less swollen. A young 

 specimen in the British Museum, from the Cape of Good 

 Hope, has the bill of a very similar form — so much so that 

 I am induced to consider it the same as the Mediterranean 

 species. 



Figure 6* shows the differences that exist in the form of the 

 bill of the West-African species, which has been considered 

 by some authors only a variety of P. antiguorum : but it is 

 shorter and consequently more robust in appearance ; the cul- 

 men near the base is somewhat swollen, and then slightly con- 

 cave towards the bend ; it is not apparently augulated beneath 

 the lower mandible, but is rather swollen about the middle of 

 the lower surface; the lateral margins of both mandibles are 

 straight and thereby less arched on the basal half than in the 

 Mediterranean example. The frontal plumes advance in the 

 form of a point on the forehead, while in the typical example 

 they are rounded in front. 



Figure 5 is a representation of a new species from the Gala- 

 pagos. The bill is somewhat slender in its general appearance, 

 the culmen at the base is transversely grooved, and the naked 

 space beneath the basal part of the lower mandible is large, with 

 the apex of the lateral arch angulated. These characters at once 

 point out the differences between it and P. ruber, from which it 

 * [Cy. Ibis, 18G5, p. 65 Ed.] 



