Shufeldt : Osrr.oLOGV or thk Flamingoks. 317 



(luoted above. That eminent authority in the same place invites atten- 

 tion to the rudiment of a fourth metacarpal in this bird, it being a 

 mere tubercle situated at the proximal extremity of the third meta- 

 carpal on the palmar side of the bone. I find it also in P. nibei-, but 

 it appears to be absent in Geese and Ibises. Before I am quite satis- 

 fied, however, that this is the correct determination of this not very 

 conspicuous tuberosity, I must have examined embryo Flamingoes at 

 various stages of their growth. 



The process called by Parker the "first distal carpal" is strongly 

 developed, not only in P. ruber, but likewise in both Geese and Ibises. 

 In all these birds the shaft of the second metacarpal is very straight 

 and rather stout, being at the same time flat upon the anterior surface; 

 it has about the same length as the third metacarpal. In P. ruber the 

 proximal joint of i)ollex is long, much compressed from side to 

 side, with a sharp anterior border. Professor Parker found that 

 in P. ignipalliatits it supported distally a large claw, and I think 

 very likely this also obtains in P. ruber, but it has been lost in my 

 specimen. 



In the case of the proximal joint of the index digit, aside from the 

 fact that the bone is longer and more narrow in the Flamingo than it 

 is in B. canadensis, they have precisely the same characters. Both 

 have the dilated part of this joint very nearly flat, somewhat thick- 

 ened and quite smooth upon either side. In Plegadis, however, it is 

 very thin indeed, and distinctly divided into two foss3e by a thicker 

 ridge of bone. 



The second joint of index has much the same form as the digit of 

 pollex but it is longer and somewhat twisted. It is proliable that it 

 supports distally a small claw, but it is, during life, enveloped in the 

 skin, instead Of being encased in a true horny theca, as in the case of 

 the claw of pollex. This phalanx in Bernicla, that is the second one 

 of index, develops proximally upon its antero-lateral border a very 

 deep little tendinal groove, that comes very near being a closed canal ; 

 this character is not seen either in Flamingoes or in Plegadis. Finally, 

 the phalanx of the third finger is short and small, being slightly curved, 

 and when articulated /// situ is closely pressed against the ulnar border 

 of the expanded part of the proximal joint of index. 



On the whole, there is a preponderance of the anserine characters 

 in the skeleton of the wing of a Flamingo over the'ibidine ones, but 

 the excess is by no means very great. . 



