154 



NATL'RAL IIISTOUY OF BIRDS. 



stork-like arrangement of tlie viscera, on the otlur baud, is completely counterbalanced 

 by the strongly and unmistakably anserine nature of the tongue, and by the presence 

 of wcll-ilevelojied o:pca. We <lo not lay much stress upon the external characters, 

 though (he lamella- of the beak, the ]ialmati<>n of the toes, ami the number of tail- 

 feathers — tliere being fourteen in the tiamingo, but only twelve or ten in all Ilcrodiones 

 — ]ioiiit in the same direction. A peculiar character is the number of primaries, the 

 tlainingo having eleven, or one more than most binls. The arrangement of the carotids 

 is also worth mentioning. It is usually asserted tliat PJufnicopterus has only one carotid, 

 the riglit — a very unusu.al arrangement, since nearly all birds which possess only one 

 have retained the left one. Professor Garrod, however, lias shown that this is a mis- 

 take, and that tiie flamingo ha.s two carotids, though the left one is very small, an<l 

 unites with the right one at the point where, in allied birds, 

 the two arteries meet in order to follow alongside of each 

 other, — a unique modification, as illustrated by the accom- 

 panying diagram. 



The characters which seem to connect the flamingo with 

 the ibises and storks we regard jiartly as ancestral, and partly 

 as the result of ailaptafion to a similar mode of life. On the 

 other hand, placing them, as we do, next to the latter group, 

 we, of course, do not deny their mutual relationship. 



The grouj) is now a very small one, only about eight 

 species being recognized at present. Otherwise during earlier 

 geological periods, .as there are more fossil Pha'iiicoptcroid 

 Fro 74 — carotiiis In phantenn- birds known from the deposits in France alone than are now 

 ^TZirl^^ri'^XVi'^tiToMT'i" «listributed all over the troj.ical an<l sul)-tro])ical world. The 

 left iniinmiimic artery; /»,ii-ft ty.,g jg therefore a rather antiiiue one, and at one time num- 

 roll.! ; ri. riEht imiouiinutv ; i.,-ou8 ppccies and gcncra inhabited the shore of the lakes 



r.«, rigbl subcliivlan. ' ° 



anil estuaries imder latitudes considerably north of the ])res- 

 cnt limit of the family. In the eocene beds of France have been found remains of ap- 

 parently flamingo-like birds, upon which have been based the genera Affnopterua and 

 J^loniiK. From the miocene de])ositM there are described a jPhcenicopteriis croizeti, 

 and not less than five sju-cics of the genus PahioIodHS. As will be seen from the 

 accompanying sketch of the restored skeleton of one of these, they were essentially 

 like the flamingos of the (vrcsent day in regard to the length of the legs and neck, but 

 the bill w;w straight and altogether more normal than in the latter, the uiidevelo]ied 

 young of which likewise has a straight bill. They very ])roperly constitute the family 

 Pai-.eoi-odontid.k. 



The recent PinKXiroPTERiD^ embrace only two genera, Phwnicoparra and Phoe- 

 nivi>i items. The former, which is characterized by its thick, short, and otherwise 

 aberrant beak and the a))sence of a hind toe, is peculiar to the Andes of Chili and 

 Peru, and consists only of one imperfectly known species, P. aitilimis. 



Of the true flaniing"s the sjiecies belonging to the fauna of the United States, 

 P. ruber, has been known under this name since the time of Limianis, but lie anil his 

 successors during the last century believed it to be conK])ecific with the Mediterranean 

 specii'S. Bonnaterre, in 17!iO, and Temminck thirty years later, expressed a belief of 

 their ))eiiig separable ; but ]>rehiu in \'><'l'^ seems to haxe been the first author to take 

 their distinctness for granted, adojiting without hesitation the name P. antiquorutn, 

 which Temminck had only jiropo-ied liyi>othetically. 



