BIRDS — PHOENICOPTERIDAE — PHOENICOPTEEUS RUBER. 



687 



Family PHOENICOPTERIDAE. 



Ch. — Legs and neck excessively elongated. Bill with the edges lamellated or denticulated, and bent abruptly in the middle. 

 Toes fully webbed. 



The precise position of this remarkahle family is a matter of some uncertainty, some authors 

 placing it with the Anseres, on account of its webbed feet and lamellar bill, while others keep it 

 in the Grallae. I am inclined to think that its affinities are more with the Anseres ; at least^ it 

 seems less out of place there than in the other sub-order. Should the statement to Mr. Audubon 

 be correct, that the young betake themselves to the water immediately on breaking the shell, it 

 will almost settle the question by placing it in the sub-class Praecoces, and, conseq^uently, 

 with the Anseres. 



PHOENICOPTERUS, Linn. 



Phoenicopterus, Linn. 1748. Type Phoenicopterus ruber, L. (Gray.) 



Ch. — Neck and feet excessively lengthened. Bill duck-like, bent abruptly downward in the middle ; the opposed edges of 

 both mandibles lamellar. Tibia denuded for the inferior two-thirds ; the anterior two-thirds of both tibia and tarsus enveloped 

 by one series of broad scutellae ; the circumference completed by a smaller posterior series. Toes one-fourth the tarsus, con- 

 nected as far as the claws by a thickened membrane. Claws short, broad, blunt. Hind toe very small, elevated ; sometimes 

 wanting. 



There is a soft skin at the base of the bill which extends around and behind the eye. 



Comparative measurements. 



PHOENICOPTERUS RUBER, Linn. 



Flamingo. 



Phoenicopter^is ruber, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 176G, 230, (in part.)— Gmelin, I, 612.— Wilson, Am. Orn. VIII, 1814, 45 ; 

 pi. Ixvi.— Bon. Obs. 1825, No. 236.— Ib. Am. Orn. Ill, 1828, 101.— Ib. List, 1838.— Ib. 

 Consp. II, 1855, 145.— Ndttall, Man. II, 1834, 70.— Add. Orn. Biog. V, 183D, 255 ; pi. 

 431.— Ib. Syn. 2C9.— Ib. Birds Amer. VI, 1843, 169, pl. 375. 



Sp. Ch. — Hind toe moderate. Size very large. Color bright scarlet red ; deepest on the wings. Quills black. Leirs red. 

 Bill yellow ; black from the bent portion. Length, 45 inches; wing, 16.50 ; tarsus, 12 ; bill above, (along curve,) 5.90. 

 Hob. — Warmer parts of America.' Rare on the Florida Keys. 



List of specimens. 



