2086 FLAMINGOES, DUCKS, AND SCREAMERS 



whereas in the storks and herons these three trochlese are of nearly equal length. 

 In the existing forms the basipterygoid facets on the rostrum of the skull are rudi- 

 mentary; and in all the metacoracoid (as figured in Vol. III. p. 1466) is charac- 

 terized by its shortness and breadth, and its firm articulation with the breastbone. 

 In their long legs and neck, and the absence of unfeathered areas on the latter, as 

 well as in many features of their internal anatomy, the flamingoes resemble the 

 storks, near which they are placed by some authorities. Their extinct allies are, 

 perhaps, still more stork-like, so that the family may probably 

 be regarded as somewhat intermediate between the storks and 

 ducks, being ancestrally connected with the former. 



The true flamingoes, of which there are some 

 . nine existing species, constitute the genus Phoe- 



nicopterus, and are readily characterized by the 

 beak being sharply bent down at an angle in front of the nos- 

 trils, its upper mandible being broad and flattened, and the 

 FRONT VIEW OF THE lower one deep and channeled. The leg is also of great length, 

 LOWER END OF THE with the me tatarsus but little shorter than the tibia. While 



RIGHT TIBIA OF THE . - ,, ... . 



some species have a small first toe, in others this is completely 

 a, bony bridge; *, tubercle, wanting, and in all nearly the whole length of the tibia is de- 

 void of feathers. The neck is of great length and slenderness, 

 and the wing of moderate size, with the first quill slightly the longest, while the tail 

 is short and even. Flamingoes, although unknown in Australia, are distributed 

 over the warmer regions of the greater part of both Hemispheres, a few individuals 

 occasionally wandering as far north as the British Islands and Northern Germany. 

 With the exception of two species inhabiting the Chilian Andes, these birds frequent 

 open country in the neighborhood of large rivers, where the water may be either 

 fresh, brackish, or salt. In a fossil state flamingoes occur in the lower Miocene 

 rocks of France. All the members of the genus are characterized by the general red 

 hue of the plumage, either rosy white or full scarlet, with black on the wings. 

 In the adult of the European flamingo (P. roseus} the whole of the plumage is rosy 

 white, with the exception of the quills of the wings, which are black, and the light 

 scarlet wing coverts. The iris and naked skin round the eyes are yellow, the beak 

 is rosy red at the base and black at the tip, and the legs and feet are pinkish red. 

 Young birds, on the other hand, lack nearly all the rose color, while their secondary 

 quills are barred with black, and all the naked parts are of a leaden hue. A full- 

 grown bird may vary from five to as much as six feet five inches in length. In this 

 species there is a small third toe, which is, however, wanting in the two Chilian 

 forms. The common flamingo visits the salt marshes and lagoons at the mouth of 

 the Rhone and other districts in the south of France during the breeding season, 

 where it may at times be met with in thousands. It is also abundant in similar 

 localities in Spain, and its range extends southward to the Cape, and eastward to 

 Lake Baikal, India, Ceylon, etc. The American flamingo (P. ruber) is, however, 

 distinct, having the general color of the plumage a full vermilion scarlet. Flocks of 

 flamingoes, as they may be seen by the lakes of Northwestern India, form one of 

 the most wonderful sights in the world. On the lakes of Sind, Mr. Hume describes 



