﻿Letters, 
  Extracts, 
  Notices, 
  t^c. 
  465 
  

  

  Sir, 
  — 
  I 
  dare 
  say 
  the 
  following 
  fact 
  will 
  interest 
  you. 
  

   Mr. 
  Hudson, 
  in 
  the 
  'Argentine 
  Ornithology 
  ' 
  (vol. 
  ii. 
  p. 
  115), 
  

   says 
  he 
  believes 
  there 
  are 
  two 
  species 
  of 
  Roseate 
  Spoonbills 
  : 
  

   one, 
  tlie 
  typical 
  Ajaja 
  rosea, 
  with 
  bare 
  head, 
  excrescences 
  on 
  

   the 
  beak, 
  yellow 
  tail, 
  crimson 
  wing-marks, 
  and 
  breast-tuft 
  ; 
  

   and 
  a 
  second 
  one 
  with 
  feathered 
  head, 
  pale-coloured 
  plumage, 
  

   smooth 
  bill, 
  rose-coloured 
  tail, 
  and 
  no 
  breast-tuft. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Hudson's 
  opinion 
  was 
  that 
  the 
  true 
  A. 
  rosea 
  has 
  all 
  its 
  

   characteristic 
  marks 
  &c. 
  from 
  its 
  youth 
  up, 
  and 
  that 
  the 
  

   pale-coloured 
  birds 
  do 
  not 
  undergo 
  any 
  change. 
  

  

  I 
  can 
  now 
  prove 
  that 
  these 
  pale-coloured 
  birds 
  are 
  not 
  a 
  

   distinct 
  species, 
  but 
  are 
  simply 
  immature 
  specimens 
  of 
  the 
  

   bright-coloured 
  Ajaja 
  rosea. 
  

  

  In 
  June 
  1889 
  the 
  Zoological 
  Garden 
  of 
  Amsterdam 
  

   acquired 
  two 
  Spoonbills 
  answering 
  exactly 
  the 
  description 
  

   that 
  Mr. 
  Hudson 
  gives 
  of 
  his 
  pale-coloured 
  species, 
  as 
  he 
  

   calls 
  it. 
  

  

  I 
  have 
  observed 
  these 
  birds 
  ever 
  since 
  their 
  arrival 
  ; 
  they 
  

   did 
  not 
  vary 
  much 
  until 
  March 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  year 
  (1893), 
  

   when 
  both 
  birds 
  completely 
  changed 
  their 
  plumage 
  into 
  that 
  

   of 
  typical 
  A. 
  rosea. 
  The 
  heads 
  have 
  become 
  bare, 
  the 
  excres- 
  

   cences 
  on 
  the 
  beak 
  have 
  appeared, 
  the 
  tails 
  are 
  yellow, 
  and 
  

   the 
  bright 
  wing-spots 
  and 
  the 
  breast-tuft 
  are 
  also 
  present. 
  

  

  The 
  fact 
  that 
  these 
  birds 
  have 
  kept 
  their 
  immature 
  plumage 
  

   for 
  four 
  years 
  sufficiently 
  explains 
  why 
  on 
  the 
  pampas 
  bright- 
  

   coloured 
  mature 
  birds 
  are 
  comparatively 
  rare. 
  The 
  immature 
  

   bird 
  Mr. 
  Hudson 
  shot 
  must 
  have 
  been, 
  not 
  a 
  bird 
  just 
  out 
  of 
  

   the 
  nest, 
  but 
  a 
  bird 
  just 
  acquiring 
  the 
  characters 
  of 
  the 
  

   adult. 
  This 
  would 
  explain 
  the 
  excrescences 
  on 
  the 
  bill 
  being 
  

   soft. 
  

  

  The 
  pale-coloured 
  bird 
  of 
  Mr. 
  Hudson^s 
  friend, 
  which 
  did 
  

   not 
  change 
  for 
  seven 
  years, 
  was 
  probably 
  not 
  kept 
  under 
  

   favourable 
  circumstances 
  as 
  to 
  its 
  food. 
  This 
  may 
  have 
  

   hindered 
  its 
  acquiring 
  the 
  fully 
  adult 
  plumage. 
  

  

  So, 
  for 
  instance, 
  I 
  ha^e 
  observed 
  that 
  specimens 
  of 
  Tantalus 
  

   ibis 
  fed 
  on 
  meat 
  instead 
  of 
  fish 
  never 
  acquire 
  their 
  bright 
  red 
  

   wing-feathers. 
  Perhaps 
  also 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  years 
  the 
  bird 
  

   was 
  kept 
  had 
  not 
  been 
  accurately 
  noted. 
  

  

  SER. 
  VI. 
  VOL. 
  v. 
  2 
  K 
  

  

  