﻿10 
  PROCEEDINGS 
  OF 
  THE 
  NATIONAL. 
  MUSEUM 
  vou 
  67 
  

  

  7. 
  Flower 
  frequenters 
  (fig. 
  19) 
  have 
  most 
  complex 
  tongues. 
  

   Among 
  these 
  we 
  find 
  the 
  fringed 
  split 
  and 
  tubular 
  tongues 
  of 
  the 
  

   Drepanididae, 
  the 
  Nectariniidae, 
  Dicaeidae, 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  Icteridae, 
  

   the 
  Zosteropidae, 
  and 
  the 
  Meliphagidae. 
  In 
  this 
  group 
  also 
  falls 
  

   the 
  Trochilidae. 
  Finally 
  a 
  most 
  remarkable 
  adaptation 
  is 
  found 
  in 
  

   the 
  flower 
  frequenting 
  parrots 
  of 
  the 
  family 
  Trichoglossidae 
  (fig. 
  

   70), 
  where 
  the 
  tongue 
  is 
  curled 
  at 
  the 
  tip 
  and 
  supplied 
  with 
  a 
  stiff 
  

   brush 
  of 
  vibrissae. 
  

  

  The 
  correlation 
  of 
  such 
  tongues 
  with 
  a 
  nectar, 
  pollen, 
  insect, 
  diet 
  

   is 
  easy 
  to 
  see. 
  Of 
  further 
  interest 
  is 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  members 
  of 
  most 
  

   of 
  these 
  families 
  possess 
  the 
  ability 
  to 
  very 
  greatly 
  extend 
  the 
  

   tongue. 
  The 
  hyoid 
  bones 
  are 
  prolonged 
  over 
  the 
  occiput 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  

   manner 
  as 
  that 
  adopted 
  by 
  the 
  woodpeckers, 
  and 
  like 
  the 
  latter 
  may 
  

   even 
  extend 
  well 
  down 
  to 
  the 
  base 
  of 
  the 
  bill. 
  

  

  8. 
  Rudimentary. 
  Finally 
  a 
  natural 
  group 
  is 
  formed 
  of 
  tongues 
  

   that 
  have 
  lost 
  the 
  greater 
  part 
  or 
  all 
  of 
  their 
  function, 
  a 
  condition 
  

   found 
  among 
  many 
  families. 
  Thus 
  birds 
  that 
  bolt 
  their 
  food 
  whole 
  

   have 
  this 
  organ 
  often 
  merely 
  a 
  little 
  fleshy 
  cylinder 
  a 
  few 
  milli- 
  

   meters 
  long 
  and 
  no 
  wider. 
  This 
  structure 
  prevails 
  in 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  

   fish 
  eaters, 
  as 
  the 
  booby, 
  pelican, 
  stork, 
  gannet, 
  darter 
  (fig. 
  20), 
  

   man-of-war 
  bird, 
  cormorant, 
  and 
  the 
  like. 
  Again 
  in 
  the 
  huge-billed 
  

   hornbills 
  we 
  find 
  only 
  a 
  small 
  and 
  unimportant 
  tongue; 
  neither 
  is 
  

   this 
  organ 
  very 
  large 
  or 
  of 
  much 
  apparent 
  use 
  in 
  their 
  allies, 
  the 
  

   kingfishers, 
  or 
  again 
  in 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  Caprimulgidae, 
  in 
  which 
  family 
  

   it 
  is 
  often 
  to 
  be 
  found 
  small 
  and 
  rather 
  simple 
  in 
  structure. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  apparent 
  in 
  such 
  a 
  review 
  that 
  in 
  a 
  large 
  number 
  of 
  forms 
  

   tongue 
  structures 
  can 
  be 
  correlated 
  with 
  some 
  special 
  diet 
  and 
  the 
  

   method 
  of 
  its 
  procurement 
  as 
  might 
  well 
  be 
  expected 
  of 
  an 
  organ 
  

   so 
  intimately 
  concerned 
  with 
  the 
  function 
  of 
  obtaining 
  food. 
  The 
  

   exceptions, 
  however, 
  are 
  numerous 
  and 
  present 
  most 
  interesting 
  prob- 
  

   lems. 
  For 
  example, 
  no 
  special 
  adaptation 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  noted 
  in 
  the 
  

   tongues 
  of 
  gulls, 
  rails, 
  sandpipers, 
  and 
  the 
  like 
  unless, 
  as 
  it 
  seems 
  

   not 
  at 
  all 
  improbable, 
  special 
  tactile 
  or 
  even 
  taste 
  sense 
  is 
  located 
  in 
  

   them. 
  Added 
  to 
  these 
  are 
  certain 
  odd 
  and 
  rather 
  complex 
  tongues 
  

   the 
  unusual 
  shapes 
  of 
  which 
  are 
  difficult 
  to 
  explain. 
  An 
  instance 
  is 
  

   this 
  organ 
  in 
  the 
  fruit-eating 
  trogons 
  (fig. 
  21). 
  It 
  is 
  triangular, 
  

   thick, 
  heavy, 
  horny 
  tipped, 
  with 
  a 
  central 
  groove 
  bordered 
  by 
  dis- 
  

   tinct 
  ridges 
  and 
  heavily 
  armed 
  posteriorly 
  with 
  spines. 
  The 
  mot- 
  

   mots 
  have 
  a 
  long 
  slender 
  structure, 
  thin 
  and 
  horny 
  and 
  much 
  frayed 
  

   laterally, 
  somewhat 
  resembling 
  that 
  found 
  in 
  toucans 
  (fig. 
  87), 
  in 
  

   which 
  birds, 
  again, 
  a 
  most 
  curious 
  featherlike 
  organ 
  is 
  found 
  with 
  the 
  

   frayed 
  lateral 
  margins 
  directed 
  anteriorly, 
  the 
  significance 
  of 
  which 
  

   can 
  not 
  be 
  evaluated 
  at 
  present. 
  

  

  