260 
TANTALINiE. PLATALEA. 
long, moderately stout, scutellate, at the base reticulate ; 
first more slender, articulated at the same level, second 
considerably shorter than third. Claws moderate, arched, 
compressed, laterally grooved, rather obtuse. Head, gular 
sac, and a small part of neck, destitute of feathers. Wings 
long and very broad, the second quill longest. Tail short, 
even, of twelve rather broad feathers. Tongue extremely 
small, broader than long ; gular sac dilatable ; cesophagus 
wide, with a dilatation at the lower part of the neck ; pro- 
ventriculus bulbiform ; stomach a powerful gizzard, round- 
ish, with large muscular fasciculi not disposed into distinct 
muscles, the epithelium very thick, longitudinally fissured ; 
intestine very long, of moderate width ; coeca two slight 
knobs. 
364. 1. Platalea Ajaja, Linn. Roseate Spoonbill. 
Plate CCCXXI. Male. 
Bill greyish-blue, at the base mottled with dusky ; feet pale lake ; 
head yellowish-green ; space around the eye and gular sac orpiment- 
orange ; a band of black from the lower mandible to the occiput ; 
feathers of the neck white ; back and wings rose-coloured ; lower 
parts of a deeper colour; tuft of recurved feathers on fore neck, a broad 
band across the wing, along the cubitus, and the upper and lower 
tail-coverts, rich carmine, with silky lustre ; shafts of quills and sca- 
pulars light carmine ; on each side of the lower part of the neck a 
patch of pale ochre ; tail-feathers ochre-yellow, but at the base 
roseate. 
Males 30|, 53. Female, 28, 48. 
Constant resident in the T^exas, South Florida, and as far eastward 
as North Carolina, where it is however very rare. Occasionally in 
summer up the Mississippi to Natchez. Breeds in flocks on trees, 
low bushes, or cactuses. 
Roseate Spoonbill, Platalea Ajaja, WiLS. Amer. Orn. v. vii. p. 123. 
Platalea Ajaja, Bonap. Syn. p. 346. 
Roseate Spoonbill, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 79. 
Roseate Spoonbill, Platalea Ajaja, Aun. Orn. Biog. v. iv. p. 188. 
