242 
AVES. 
That of Ceylon (T. leucocephalus) is the largest of all, and has also the thickest bill. Its beak, and the naked 
skin of the face, are yellow, the plumage white, with black quills and cincture round the breast, and long roseate | 
plumes on the croup, which are shed during the rainy season. A fourth may be added, the T. lacteus of 
Temminck. 
The Spoonbills {Platalea, Lin.) — 
Approximate the Storks in their whole structure, but their beak, from which their name is derived, is long, j 
flat, and broad throughout its length, widening and flattening more particularly at the end, so as to form l 
a round spatula-like disk ; with two shallow grooves extending its entire length, without being exactly 
parallel to its edges. The nostrils are oval, and pierced at a small distance from the origin of each 
groove. Their minute tongue, reticulated tarsi, the somewhat considerable palmature of their toes, ] 
their two very small coeca, but slightly muscular gizzard, and inferior larynx without any peculiar 
muscles, are the same as in the Storks ; but the expansion of their bill deprives it of all its strength, 
and unfits it for any thing but turning up sand, or picking up small fish and aquatic insects. 
The White Spoonbill {PI. leucorodla, Gm.). — Entirely white, with an occipital crest. It is common throughout 
the ancient continent, and nestles in high trees. [The trachea normally undergoes in both sexes a small convolu- i 
tion resembling the figure 8, but we have dissected one female wherein it proceeded straight to the divarication 
of the bronchi, and was furnished with a small pair of muscles]. 
The Roseate Spoonbill {PI. ajaja). — A naked visage, and vivid roseate tints of different shades upon the plumage, 
which deepen with age. It is properly an inhabitant of South America. 
The family of 
Longirostres 
Consists of a multitude of Shore-birds, the greater number of which were comprehended by 
Linmeus in his genus Scolopax, and the rest confounded by him in that of Tringa, though 
partly in opposition to the character assigned to the latter, of having the back-toe too short 
to reach the ground. Lastly, it contains a few that have been placed with the Plovers, on 
account of the total absence of the hind toe. The whole of these birds have nearly the same;l|i 
conformation, the same habits, and most frequently the same distribution of colours, which 
I render it difficult to distinguish between them. They are generally characterized by a long, i 
slender, and feeble bill, which only permits them to bore in the mud in search of worms and'|,i 
small insects ; and the various slight modifications in the form of this beak enable us to | 
arrange them into genera and subgenera. m 
[We should observe that the distinction between this group and the Pressirostres is extremely 1 
vague, or rather, with certain reservations, that they compose but one series, plainly charac- 
terized by their anatomy. The sternal apparatus of the Knot Sandpiper (fig. 119.) may serve |' 
as a specimen of this portion of the skeleton throughout ;! ‘ 
the whole, the few modifications which occur of it being || 
inconsiderable. The stomach (save in the Bustards and i|, : 
Coursers, which in other respects are the least conform- 1 1 
able among them), is always a muscular gizzard, and the li : 
intestines long, with small or moderate coeca, and invaria- If 
bly a distinct ccecal remnant of the umbilical vessel. The* ' 
females (except in the very few species of polygamous || t 
habit), are larger than the males, and they almost invariably 1 (i 
lay four eggs on the ground, upon little or no nest, andfi!j 
dispose them with the small ends inwards; the young l|!i 
following their parents as soon as they burst the shell]. ||| j 
According to his own principles, Linnaeus should have In 
classed most of these birds in his great genus of 
The Snipes {Scolopax ), — % 
Fig. iig -sternum of the Knot Sandpiper. Which W6 divide as follows, from trivial variations of the form||( 
of the bill. 
The Ibises {Ibis, Cuv.). i«l 
We separate these from the Tantali of Gmelin, on account of their beak, which, though arcuated as inf . 
