242 PLATALEID^E. 



rounded part near the point, where it is yellow ; the naked 

 skin under the tongue and on the throat is also yellow ; the 

 irides red ; the whole of the plumage pure white, except a 

 band of feathers at the bottom of the neck in front, which 

 is of a buff colour, and this tint extends upwards on each 

 side in a narrow stripe to the top ; there also is a roseate 

 blush observable in some of the dorsal feathers, towards 

 their roots, being especially apparent in, and, as it were, 

 radiating from, the shafts of the feathers. Some of the 

 feathers of the occiput are elongated, forming a conspicuous 

 plume ; the legs, toes, and claws are black ; the toes con- 

 nected by a considerable expanse of membrane, which is 

 concave at the margin between the toes. 



The whole length of the bird, from the point of the beak 

 to the end of the tail, is about thirty-two inches ; of which 

 the beak in an old male will measure nearly nine inches ; 

 from the carpal joint to the end of the wing fourteen inches 

 and a half; the first quill-feather not quite so long as the 

 fourth ; the second and third equal in length, rather longer 

 than the fourth, and the longest in the wing. 



The females are not so large, at the same age, as males, 

 and have a smaller occipital crest ; but they are not other- 

 wise dissimilar. 



In young birds the beak is not so large, it is softer in its 

 texture, more flexible, and of a dark livid flesh-colour ; the 

 naked parts about the head paler ; the irides ash-colour ; 

 the shafts and the ends of the quill-feathers are black, and 

 there is no indication of the elongated occipital feathers, 

 which at mature age are borne by both sexes. 



The Spoonbill possesses a peculiarity of internal structure 

 much too interesting to be passed over. This bird is one 

 of the very few which has been found to possess no true 

 muscles of the organ of voice, and no modulation of its single 

 tone appears to be possessed by the bird. The illustration 

 inserted on the next page is a representation of i)art of the 

 inside of this l)ird, with the figurc-of-8-like convolutions 

 of its singular windpipe in the natural situation in front of 

 the lungs ; the insertion of the bronchisG into the lobe of the 



