FLAMING OES. 
321 
True Flamingoes. 
FRONT VIEW OF THE 
LOWER END OF THE 
RIGHT TIBIA OF THE 
FLAMINGO. 
a, bony bridge; b, 
tubercle. 
the trochlea for the second toe markedly shorter than either of the others, and 
much bent back, whereas in the storks and herons these three trochlese are of 
nearly equal length. In the existing forms the basipterygoid facets on the 
rostrum of the skull are rudimentary; and in all the metacoracoid (as figured in 
Yol. III. p. 294) is characterised by its shortness and breadth, and its firm articula¬ 
tion with the breast-bone. I 11 their long legs and neck, and the absence of 
unfeathered areas on the latter, as well as in many features of 
their internal anatomy, the flamingoes resemble the storks, near 
which they are placed by some authorities. Their extinct 
allies are, perhaps, still more stork-like; so that the family 
may probably be regarded as somewhat intermediate between 
the storks and ducks, being ancestrally connected with the 
former. 
The true flamingoes, of which there are 
some nine existing species, constitute the genus 
Phcenicopterus, and are readily characterised by the beak 
being sharply bent down at an angle in front of the nostrils; 
its upper mandible being broad and flattened, and the lower 
one deep and channelled. The leg is also of great length, with 
the metatarsus but little shorter than the tibia. While some species have a small 
first toe, in others this is completely wanting; and in all nearly the whole length of 
the tibia is devoid of feathers. The neck is of great length and slenderness; and 
the wing of moderate size, with the first quill slightly the longest; while the tail 
is short and even. Flamingoes, although unknown in Australia, are distributed 
over the warmer regions of the greater part of both hemispheres, a few individuals 
occasionally wandering as far north as the British Islands and Northern Germany. 
With the exception of two species inhabiting the Chilian Andes, these birds 
frequent open country in the neighbourhood of large rivers, where the water may 
be either fresh, brackish, or salt. In a fossil state flamingoes occur in the lower 
Miocene rocks of France. All the members of the genus are characterised by the 
general red hue of the plumage,—either rosy white or full scarlet,—with black on 
the wings. In the adult of the European flamingo (P. roseus) the whole of the 
plumage is rosy white, with the exception of the quills of the wings, which are 
black, and the light scarlet wing-coverts. The iris and naked skin round the eyes 
are yellow; the beak is rosy red at the base and black at the tip; and the legs 
and feet are pinkish red. Young birds, on the other hand, lack nearly all the 
rose-colour, while their secondary quills are barred with black, and all the naked 
parts are of a leaden hue. A full-grown bird may vary from 5 to as much as 6 feet 
5 inches in length. In this species there is a small third toe, which is, however, 
wanting in the two Chilian forms. 
© 
The common flamingo visits the salt-marshes 
and lagoons at the mouth of the Rhone and other districts in the south of France 
during the breeding-season, where it may at times be met with in thousands. It 
is also abundant in similar localities in Spain; and its range extends southwards 
to the Cape, and eastwards to Lake Baikal, India, Ceylon, etc. The American 
flamingo (P. ruber) is, however, distinct, having the general colour of the plumage 
a full vermilion-scarlet. Flocks of flamingoes, as they may be seen by the lakes 
VOL. iv.— 21 
