252 Mr. E. Swinhoe on the 



of the year, in other groups that I have examined, have small 

 blackish testes during the winter.) I had some of its flesh 

 cooked, and found it coarse and fishy to the taste. 



Dissection of female of the year. — Ovary small. Stomach 

 containing fish and a few water-hugs (Naucoris) . 



Dissection of adult male. — Stomach containing the remains 

 of small fish. Testes much larger than in younger bird, also 

 unequal in size, of an ochreous yellow. The whole of the 

 flesh, fat, cartilage, and bone saturated with the vermilion 

 tint that appears on the wings and soft external parts of the 

 bird. What the chemical nature of this permeating juice is 

 I do not know. It does not occur in the younger birds ; and 

 I have not noticed it in any other species. 



The trachea is the same in all these specimens, its length 

 Q\ inches. It consists of a series of rings closely succeeding 

 one another, alternately broad on one side and narrow on the 

 other, until, just before reaching the bronchi, four or five uni- 

 form rings occur, ending in a projecting semicircle of bone, 

 the thickness of two of the broad parts of the upper rings ; be- 

 low this two crescentic bony ridges commence the short 

 bronchi. The trachea averages about "5 in. in breadth, becom- 

 ink narrower towards its end. In a young Heron (Ardea 

 cinerea) of the year the trachea attains the great length of 

 15^ inches, is of uniform breadth, not half that of the other, 

 and consists of nearly uniform rings, separated from each 

 other by a narrow membrane, with a small round perforation 

 on the upper edge of each ring. 



The tongue of the Ibis is short ( - 6 inch) and triangular, 

 with a concave papillose base ; the hyoids thick and curved, 

 the first joint 1'4, the second "8 long. 



The tongue of the Heron is long (2 inches) and spear-like ; 

 its hyoids thin and nearly straight, the first 1*8, the second *4. 



I bring the Heron to the fore in comparison with the Ibis, 

 because some suppose affinity between them (see Hewitson, 

 Eggs of B. B.). But in the two important organs just ex- 

 amined there appears to be no relationship. No more is there 

 in the form of the sternum. 



The Rosy Ibis often breeds in company, but often also in 



