238 Div. 1. VERTEBRATE ANIMALS.— AYES. Class 2. 



We terminate this series of Stilt-birds by three genera, which it is difficult to associate with 

 any others, and which may be considered as each forming a separate family. 



The Sheathbills {Chionis, Forster) — 

 Have short toes, nearly as in the Poultry, the tarsi scutellated, the beak thick and conical, and 

 enveloped at base by a hard substance, v\luch, it appears, the bird has the power of raising and 

 depressing. 



We are acquainted with only one species, from New Holland {Ch. necrophaga, Vieillot), the size of a [large] 

 Partridge, and entirely white. It frequents the sea shore, and feeds on dead animal matter thrown up by the 

 tide. [Prof. Blainville has lately shown that this remarkable bird approaches very near to the Oyster-catchers in 

 its whole anatomy, and the affinity is discernible on comparison of their external characters. 



• Apparently allied are 



The Attagens {Attagis, d'Orb.), — 

 The uncompressed bill of which nearly resembles that of a Poultiy-bird, and the plumage is not unlike 

 the immature dress of a Lark : wings and feet as in Chionis. 



Several species inhabit the Cordilleras of the Andes, varying in size from that of a Partridge to less than 

 a Lark. The snialler constitute the Tinochorus of Vieillot.] 



The Pratincoles {Glareola, Graelin) — 

 Have a short, conical beak, arcuated throughout, and resemhhng that of a Poultry-bird. The wings 

 excessively long and pointed, and tail often forked, producing the flight of a Swallow or Petrel. The 

 legs are of mean length, the tarsi scutellated, the external toes a little palmated, and thumb reaching 

 to the ground ; [middle claw furnished with an obtusely serrated inner edge]. They fly in troops, and 

 cry about the bortlers of water, subsisting on aquatic insects and worms, [Their sternal apparatus and 

 anatomy intimate their position to be among the Snipes and Plovers.] 



The European species (Gl. torquata) is brown above, white below and on the croup; the gorget encircled with a 

 black marking; and base of the bill and feet reddish. It appears to inhabit the north of the whole ancient world. 



Our last genus consists of 



The Flamingoes {Phcenicnpierns, Lin.), — 

 Which are among the most extraordinary and isolated of birds, [being, in fact, an extreme modification 

 of the Lamellirostral type, that is, of the Duck tribe, with inordinately elongated neck and legs]. Their 

 legs, of excessive length, have their front toes palmated to the ends, and an extremely short hind- 

 toe ; the neck is equally long and slender with the legs, and their small head is furnished with a bill 

 the inferior mandible of which is of an oval form, longitudinally bent into a semicylindrical canal, 

 while the upper one, oblong and flat, is bent crosswise in the middle, so as to join the other exactly. 

 The membranous groove of the nostrils occupies nearly the whole side of that part which is behind 

 the sudden bend of the mandibles, and the nostrils themselves form a longitudinal slit at the base of 

 the groove. The edges of the two mandibles are furnished with small and very fine transverse 

 laminae, which, together with the fleshy thickness of the tongue, imports some relationship with the 

 Ducks. We might even place the Flamingoes among the Palmipedes, were it not for the length of 

 tlieir tarsi, and the nudity of part of the tibia, [an objection which would equally apply to the Gulls 

 and Petrels]. They feed on Testaceans, Insects, and the spawn of Fishes, which they seize by means 

 of their long neck, reverting the head to employ with advantage the crook of the upper mandible. 

 They construct their nest of earth in marshy situations, placing themselves astride of it [ ? ] during the 

 act of incubation, in consequence of the extreme length of their legs incapacitating them from sitting 

 in the usual manner. [The dige:^tive organs resemble those of the Ducks with unlobated hind-toe ; 

 having even the crop, or distension of the oesophagus, which occurs in no species strictly belonging to 

 the division of Stilt-l)irds.] 



The common species (PM. ruber) stands from three to four feet in height, and is ash-coloured, with brown 

 streaks, during the first year ; in the second there is a roseate hue on the wings, and in the third it assumes a 

 purple red on the back, and rose-coloured wings. This species is found in all parts of the eastern continent below 

 40 degrees. Numerous flocks are seen every year on the southern coasts of Europe, and they sometimes ascend 

 as far as the Rhine. 



M. Teniminck thinks [and has since definitively ascertained] that the American Flamingo is distinct ; besides 

 •which, there is a small species on that continent (P/i. minor, Vieillot) of which the Pigmy Flamingo of Temminck 

 is the young. 



