xin 



PHYLUM CHOEDATA 



421 



flattened lor feeding in mud, as in Ducks and Geese; expanded at 

 the end as in Spoonbills ; immensely enlarged as in Hornbills and 

 Toucans. It is most commonly bent downwards at the tip, but 

 may be straight or curved upwards, as in the Avocet, or'bent to 

 one side, as in the Now Zealand Crook- billed Plover. It is some- 

 times, as in the Toucans, brilliantly coloured, and there may also be 

 bright coloration of the cere, as in the Macaws, and of naked spaces 

 on the head, as in the Cassowaries. In the latter the head is pro- 

 duced into a great horny prominence or " casque," supported by an 

 elevation of the roof of the skull. The cere is frequently absent. 

 The nostrils are placed at the base of the beak except in Apteryx, 

 in which they are at the tip. 



The essential structure of the wing — apart from its feathers — is 

 very uniform. As a rule, all three digits are devoid of claws. 



Fig. 10of».— a, Wing of nestling of Opisthocomus ; B, Wing of adult Apteryx ; both from 

 the inner (ventral) asiject. cb. 1, first cubital reuiex ; d(i. 1, ihj. 2. d<i. d. digits ; pr.ptgui. 

 pre-patagium ; jit.ptgm. post-patagiuui. (A, after Pycraft ; 15, after T. J. Parker.) 



as in the Pigeon, but the Ostrich has claws on all three digits ; 

 Rhea on the first and sometimes on tlie second and third ; the 

 Cassowary, Emu, and Kiwi (Fig. 1059, B) on the second; the 

 Crested Screamer (Chauna) and two other species, and, as a rare 

 abnormality, the Common Fowl and Goose, on the first. With these 

 exceptions, the hand of the adult bird has lost all the characters 

 of a fore-foot ; but in the young of the Hoatzin {Opistliocomus) 

 claws are present on the first two digits (Fig. 1059, A), which are 

 sufficiently mobile to be used in climbing. Besides the true claws, 

 horny simrs are sometimes present on the carpo-metacarpus. 



There is almost every gradation in the proportional length of 

 the hind-limb, from Birds in which nothing but the foot pro- 

 jects beyond the contour feathers — and even the toes may be 



VOL. II D D 



