166 SHOULDER-GIRDLE AND BREAST-BONE. 



most ; but they are shorter in proportion to the scapulas. The furcula has but little trace of the 

 prse-coracoid; it is broadly U-shaped and Anserine in both; and there is a small' pimple-shaped 

 inter-clavicle in ThresJciornis, but none in Platalea. The Sternum is thoroughly Pluvialine in 

 both ; but whilst the outer notch is largest in ThresJciornis, the inner is the largest in the Spoon- 

 bill. The latter agrees with Ciconia and Leptoptilus in having five pairs of sternal ribs, whilst 

 the Ibis has six ; this bird has a small " rostrum," which is aborted in Platalea. 



Sub-family " PHCENICOPTERIN^E." 



With the Flamingo, evidently Anserine in many respects, the Ibis has the greatest right 

 of relationship. The scapula of the former, unlike that of the Ibis, is very long and narrow, 

 more so than in the Goose ; the coracoids are shorter, broader, and more Goose-like ; and 

 they have large meso-coracoid processes : they overlap, as in the Ibis. The furcula is very 

 much like a broad U, as in the Spoonbill ; but it has, like the Umbre, a well-developed Plu- 

 vialine interclavicle ; it has scarcely any " prse-coracoidean" enlargement. 



The Sternum of the Flamingo is more elongate by far than in the other Ibidine forms ; 

 it has the thick "rostrum," and the long, oval, single pair of notches of a Goose; the ends of 

 the three xiphoid processes, as in the Ibis, do not ossify, even in old age. These cartilaginous 

 parts are pedate, more so than in the Ibis, less so than in the Goose ; and the notch on each 

 side is so clean-cut that it shows, as in the Goose, no disposition to add another cleft. As in 

 the Goose, the outer bars of the Sternum of the Flamingo project further backwards than the 

 middle piece ; whereas in the Ibis they are the shortest, thus showing their Pluvialine nature. 



Family " 



Sub-family " ACCIPITRIN^E." 

 Example. Nisus communis, Cuv. 



Sub-family " STRIGIN^E." 

 Example. Ulula aluco, Linn. 



Sub-family " SERPENTARIIN^E." 

 Example. Dicholophus cristatus, Linn. 



These Birds, as at present known, form a very natural assemblage, and their relationships to 

 other groups are in no wise evident, especially if the typical forms are considered ; the most 



