644 DR. p. CHALMERS MITCHELL ON THE 



43. Observations on the Anatomy of the Shoe-bill (Balami- 

 ceps rex) and allied Birds. By P. Chalmeks Mitchell, 

 M.A.^ D.Sc, LL.D., F.R.S., Secretary of the Society. 



[Received and Read June 3, 1913.] 



(Plates LXXX.-LXXXIII * and Text-figures 119-132.) 



Index. 



Anatomy : Page 



Ptei-y losis 644 



Foot and Claw 648 



Syrinx 651 



Carotid Arteries 652 



Alimentarj' Canal 652 



Cloaca 663 



Muscles 666 



Osteology 688 



Sj'stematic 698 



In the end of June, 1912, a young example of the Shoe-bill 

 (Balceniceps rex) arrived at the Gaixlens as a gift from the 

 Sirdar, Sir Reginald Wingate, G.O.Y.O., Honorary Member of 

 the Society. It was not quite adult, but stood between three 

 and a half and four feet in height. It was placed in a warmed 

 enclosure communicating with a grassy paddock containing 

 a small pond, and it fed well, although its appetite was small, 

 on fish, frogs and pieces of meat. It appeared to thrive through 

 the winter, but in the end of March, 1913, it showed difficulty 

 in breathing. It was removed to the Sanatorium and kept for 

 a few days in a warm, moist atmosphere, but died. The j^ost 

 mortem examination showed the presence of mycosis in the 

 lungs, although not in sufficient quantity to cause mechanical 

 obstruction to respiration, and the interior of the larynx and 

 bronchi was nearly fi'ee, but subsequent microscopic examination 

 by Mr. Plimmer, F.R.S., the Society's pathologist, revealed 

 extensive infiltration of the tissues by the mould. As Dr. 

 Beddard, the Society's Prosector, was engaged on other work, I 

 gladly took the opportunity, of inaking some observations on the 

 anatomy of this rare bird, and give the results here. My work 

 was to a certain extent limited by the necessity of not injuring 

 the skeleton, which was destined for the British Museimi 

 (Natural History). Certain portions of the viscera were sent to 

 the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons. 



I am indebted to my colleague Mr. D. Seth-Smith, the Society's 

 Curator of Birds, for leave to reproduce on Plate LXXX. the 

 excellent photograph of this bird, which was an immature male. 



Pterylosis. — A. D. Bartlett (1) discovered and described the 

 powder-down patches, and Professor Giebel (21) has written a 



* For explanation of tlie Plates see p. 703. 



