Vol i's0 IU ] Lucas on the Tongues of Birds. \ i i 



Coming finally to the tongue 1 we would expect, if my conclusion 

 were correct, to find a pretty constant relation between the shape 

 of the tongue and the nature of the food, to find the same general 

 style of tongue in birds belonging to different groups but eating 

 the same kind of food, and, conversely, to find that birds 

 undeniably closely related might have quite different tongues. 



The simplest tongues are naturally found in those birds which 

 use them least. In the big-throated Pelicans and Cormorants which 

 bolt their food whole, they are rudimentary, while in fish-eating 

 or Mesh-eating birds, they are quite simple. The various groups 

 of Ducks which differ as to their diet possess corresponding 

 differences in the pattern of their tongues. The Canada Goose 

 has a rather simple, flattened tongue, slightly barbed along the 

 edge, while the fish-eating Red-breasted Merganser has the 

 serrations on its slender beak matched by a series of sharp, 

 reverted, horny barbs on the slender tongue, whose obvious 

 purpose is to help in holding and swallowing slippery prey. The 

 Teal and other species of more varied diet, which eat a multi- 

 plicity of little things, such as seeds, snails and worms, have a 

 thick, fleshy tongue with several series of slender projections of 

 various degrees of fineness, serving the double purpose of a rake 

 and a sieve. The Honey-eaters have tubular and truly suctorial 

 tongues, formed by the upturning of the edges until they lap, 

 being so closely pressed together that it is a difficult matter to 

 part them. The Meliphagidae, the Drepanididas and members of 

 the genus Ccereba (formerly Certhiola) have a brushy tongue which 

 probably serves to collect pollen, nectar and small insects from 

 the bottom of flowers, and the flower-frequenting Parrots of the 

 genus Triclioglossus also have a brushy tongue. In the Ducks 

 then we have a variation in the tongue keeping pace with a 

 variation in the bill of fare, while in the brush-tongued birds just 

 noted we have a similarity of tongue correlated with similarity 

 of food or method of obtaining it. A still better instance of 

 similarity of tongues in widely separated birds, and one in which 



1 I would like here to express my indebtedness to my friend, Mr. William 

 Palmer, for his kindness in supplying me not only with much material, but 

 information on many points regarding the food and habits of birds. 



