PHCENICOPTERIDJ5. 117 



further investigation of the history of this interesting bird, and settle 

 the question whether there is more than one species of Argentine 

 Spoonbill. 



To conclude, I may mention that the pet bird my friend kept was of 

 the pale-plumaged species, and never lost the feathers from its head, 

 nor did it acquire any of the characteristic marks of P. ajaja. 



Fam. XXXVIII. PHCENICOPTERID^E, OR FLAMINGOES. 



The very peculiar and isolated type of Flamingo is found in both 

 the Old and New Worlds, and is, no doubt, of great antiquity. In 

 the Neotropical Region three species of Flamingo are now known to 

 occur, one of which is well known in the Argentine Provinces. Of 

 the other two (Phcenicopterus andinus and P.jamesi*), which inhabit 

 the Andes of Chili and Bolivia, one has also been ascertained to occur 

 within the northern frontiers of the Argentine Republic. Both these 

 last-named species belong to the three- toed section of the genus (Phoe- 

 nicoparrd). In P. ignipaUiatus the hind toe is present. 



332. PHCENICOPTERUS IGNIPALLIATUS, Geoffr. et d'Orb. 

 (ARGENTINE FLAMINGO.) 



Phoenicopterus ignipalliatus, Sunn. La-Plata Reise, ii. p 512 (Mendoza, 

 Parana, Rosario, Buenos Ayres); Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 127 ; iid. P. Z .8. 

 1868, p. 145 (Buenos Ayres) j Scl. P. Z. S. 1872, p. 549 (Rio Negro) j 

 Durnford, Ibis, 1877, p. 41, et 1878, p. 400 (Patagonia) ; Gibson, Ibis, 1880> 

 p. 156 (Buenos Ayres) j Barrow*, Auk, 1884, p. 272 (Pampas). 



Description. Hindtoepresent. Plumage rosy red; wing-coverts crimson ; wing- 

 feathers black ; bill pale yellowish red, apical half black ; feet dark violet-grey : 

 whole length 39*0 inches, wing 15*0, tarsus ll'O. Female similar, but smaller. 



Hab. Southern portions of South America. 



The Argentine Flamingo inhabits the whole of the Argentine country, 

 down to the Rio Negro in the south, where I found it very abundant. 

 The residents told me of a breeding-place there a shallow salt-lake 

 which, however, had been abandoned by the birds before my visit. The 

 nest there, as in other regions, was a small pillar of mud raised a foot or 

 eighteen inches above the surface of the water, and with a slight hollow 

 on the top ; and I was assured by people who had watched them on 

 their nests that the incubating bird invariably sits with the hind part 



* Cf. Sclater, P. Z. S. 1886, p. 399. 



