408 



ZOOLOGY 



SECT. 



The neck is always well developed, and is often, as in the Swan 

 and Flamingo, of immense proportional length. The cranial 

 portion of the head is usually not large, but the beak may attain 

 extraordinary dimensions, and exhibits a wide range of form. It 

 may be extremely short and wide for catching Moths* and other 

 flying Insects, as in Swifts and Goatsuckers ; short and conical for 

 eating fruit, as in Finches ; strongly hooked for tearing the bodies 

 of animals, as in Birds of Prey, or for rending fruits of various kinds, 

 as in Parrots ; long, conical, and of great strength, as in Storks ; 

 slender and elongated, as in Swifts, Ibises, and Curlews ; broad and 

 flattened for 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 



FIG. 1070. A, Wing of nestling of Opisthocomus ; , Wing of adult Apteryx ; both from 

 the inner (ventral) aspect, cb. 1, first cubital remex ; dg. 1, dg. 2, dg. 3, digits ; pr. ptgm. 

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



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

 one side, as in the New 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, as 

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

 on the first and sometimes on the second and third ; the Cassowary, 

 Emu, and Kiwi (Fig. 1070, B) on the second ; the Crested Screamer 



