ShuI'KLUt : OsTEOI.OG^ oi' iiik 1"i,amin(;()f.s. 297 



Flamingoes among his Ardri/on/ics as a family, and far removed from 

 the A/iscns,'^ which latter are found in his Anscrifoiines, and these are 

 separated from the An/t-i/oniu-s by the Falconifonncs. 



Many other authorities could be cited here, but from what has been 

 given it is clear that a great variance of opinion still obtains among 

 us as to the position in the system the Flamingoes really occupy. 



It is my intention here to compare the skeleton oi Pha'nicoptenis 

 ruber, bone for bone, and character for character with the correspond- 

 ing ones as they occur in the skeletons of all our N. American Merg- 

 ansers, Ducks, Geese and Swans on the one hand, and the Ibises, 

 Herons, Storks and their immediate allies on the other. Not that I 

 hope that such a comparison will settle the matter for good and all, as 

 to the affinities of the Flamingoes, because the only true way to arrive 

 at such a desirable end as that, is to compare and intercompare the 

 characters presented in the entire structure of all these groups. It will 

 show, however, what the skeleton has to say on the subject, and so far 

 as it goes, the results arrived at will be set forth in the present 

 memoir. 



Comparative Osteology of Phcenicopterus ruber. 

 Of the Skull. — Omitting the consideration of the lower jaw or 

 mandible, for the present, as well as the ossifications of the organs of 

 special sense, and directing our attention to the remaining part of the 

 skull, the remarkable form of the upper jaw of the Flamingo first com- 

 mands the attention. This has a length more than twice that of the 

 cranium proper, while in the matter of its special sha])e it stands quite 

 unique among birds. Its distal moiety is bent downwards upon the 

 proximal half at an angle of rather more than a right angle. This 

 gives to its mid-longitudinal line upon its under side a sudden curve 

 at the point of tlexure, while the corresponding line upon the upper 

 side is more abrupt and angulated. Upon both sides, as well as at the 

 apex of this mandible the free edges are very sharp and are directed 

 directly outwards. The anterior or downward-bent portion of this 

 osseous superior mandible is very much compressed and flattened in 

 the antero-posterior direction ; its extreme point being slightly bent 

 backwards. On the upper surface it exhibits a central leaf-like area, 

 lanceolate in outline, that has upon either side, near the lateral boun- 

 dary a single row of very pronounced foramina. The remaining sur- 



' I'. Z. .S., 1892, p. 229. 



