FLAMINGO. 



1(»1 



Notes on the Scarlet Flamingo, Phoenicopteris ruier. Yoikc. Brown tliroughout, witli only 

 a trace of scarlet, then as the bird grows older, after each successive moult, the scarlet pluuiage is graduallv 

 assumed, appearing on the neck and body first, then on the wings, which frequently have the centraf portions 

 of the feathers of the upper coverts occupied by oval spots nf brDwn. even after the remainder of the dress 

 has become changed to scarlet. 



Tongue, remarkably thick, being composed of soft fatty tissues, and lies in the cavity of the lower man- 

 dible. In form it is singular: the tip is pointed, and is provided abnvc witli a hardened skin for 1.7;j of its 

 terminal portion ( see Fig -'i', a ). The main portion is rounded, and following the hardened tip are two rows, 

 about twenty to a row, of hardened semi-cartilaginous spines, which stand more or less ^rect, but curve 



Fig- 22. 



Fi(i, 24. 



A B 



Tongue of Flamingo two thirds life size; a, side ; b, top; c, cocca, life size. A, inferior laryn.x B, bron- 

 chial tube, of Flamingo, both life size. 



backward. Tlie tongue narrows toward the base so rapidly tliat the last spines terminate on either margin. 

 Beneath it gradually enlarges for 2.(J0 of its length, to about .S-") deep by .7o wide, tlicn abruptly narrows 

 to .coin diameter. The entire tongue, including hj-oid bones, measures about G.OO in length, and is about 

 .35 in its narrowest portion. 



The superior larjTix does not differ greatly from tliat of most of the geese. The trachea is straight, 

 without dilitation, and is 22..'j0 long. Tlie sterno-trachoalis is well developed and has tlie usual sternal at. 

 tachmcnt. There is a single strip of a bronchialis (see Fig. 24:, A). The bronchial tubes are very short- 

 1.00 long, with about si.x half rings, and the vibrating surface of the tympaniforms occupies only about .'tO 

 of the upper p >rtion. There is no os transversale. couser[ucntly no s.'miluna membrane, hence the loud so- 

 norous cries of the Flamingo are produced by the comparatively small tympaniforms, aided, doubtlessly, by 

 the great length of trachea. 



The heart is of a long, pointed oval form, 1.00 by 2.00. The right lobe of the liver greatly exceeds that 

 of the left in size, and the gall sack is greatly developed. 



The oesophagus is straight, without specal dilitation, measuring 24.00 to the proventriculus, which is 

 jirovided with simple, eliptical glands arranged in a zonular band, 1.2r) wide. Stomach, rather eliptical in 

 form, 1.20 by 1.(1;"") by 1.10, with quite muscular walls .!)0 tliick : internal membrane, hard and rugose. The 

 intestines arc small and long, measuring !• feet and inches to the cocca, which are 4.(X) long and without any 

 special dilitation (see Fig. 22, c ) . The food of the Flamingo consists largely of a small species of mollusk ; a 

 gasteropod of the genus Cerithium, that inliabits the shallow waters of the lakes and lagoons of the salinas. 



