Bill yellowish-grey at the base, mottled with brownish-black, in the rest of its extent pale greenish-blue, light on the margins; base of margin of lower mandible greenish-yellow. Iris bright carmine. Feet pale lake; claws brownish-black. Head yellowish-green; space around the eye and the gular sac orpiment orange; a band of black from the lower mandible to the occiput. Feathers of the neck white. Back and wings of a beautiful delicate rose colour; the lower parts of a deeper tint; the tuft of recurved feathers on the fore neck, a broad band across the wing along the cubitus, and the upper and lower tail-coverts, of a rich and pure carmine with silky lustre. The shafts of all the quills and scapulars are light carmine. On each side of the lower part of the neck and fore part of the body a patch of pale ochre. Tail feathers ochre-yellow, but at the base pale roseate, with the shafts carmine.
Length to end of tail 30 3/4 inches, to end of wings 29 3/4, to end of claws 36; extent of wings 53; bill 7; breadth of gape 1 3/8, depth of pouch 2; breadth of bill at the base 1 5/8; at the end 2 1/12; bare part of tibia 3; tarsus 4; hind toe and claw 1 10/12; second toe and claw 2 8/12; middle toe and claw 3 7/12; outer toe and claw 3 1/12; wing from flexure 15 1/4; tail 4 3/4. Weight 4 lb. 2 oz.
The female is smaller, but resembles the male.
Length to end of tail 28 inches, to end of wings 28, to end of claws 35 3/4; extent of wings 48. Weight 3 lb.
The affinities of this remarkable bird being variously represented by authors, it becomes a matter of considerable interest to determine its relations according to its internal organs. The skin is thin, but tough, and the subcutaneous cellular tissue is largely developed. In these respects its affinity is to the Ibises and Curlews, as much at least as to any other birds. On the roof of the mouth are two rows of blunt papillæ, as in many Scolopacidæ. The tongue is extremely small, being only 3 twelfths of an inch in length, but 7 twelfths in breadth at the base, where it is emarginate and furnished with numerous delicate papillæ, the outer much larger. The gular membrane is very dilatable and of the same general nature as that of the Cormorants and Pelicans, having a longitudinal series of muscular fibres along the centre, with two layers of fasciculi interposed between the external skin and the internal, the inner fasciculi running parallel to the lower mandible, the outer transversely. The bill is similar to that of the Pelican’s modified, the middle part or ridge being flattened, and the unguis abbreviated. The breadth of the mouth is within 1 1/12 inch. The external aperture of the ear is roundish, 4 twelfths in diameter, that of the meatus oblique, oblong, 3 twelfths across. The œsophagus, a b, is 17 inches long (including the proventriculus, as in all the other measurements); its diameter at the top 1 1/4 inch, at the distance of six inches, it contracts to 5 twelfths, then for four inches enlarges, having its greatest diameter 1 1/12 inch; between the coracoid bones it again contracts to half an inch, and on entering the thorax enlarges to an inch. The proventriculus is bulbiform, 1 1/2 inch long, its glandules very large, cylindrical, the longest being 1/4 inch, and 1 twelfth in diameter. The stomach, c d, is a powerful gizzard of a roundish form, 1 inch 11 twelfths long, and 1 inch 10 twelfths broad; the muscular fibres disposed in large fasciculi all around, but not forming distinct lateral muscles; the central tendons very large, being 10 twelfths in diameter; the cuticular lining excessively thick, of a rather soft texture, divided by deep longitudinal irregular fissures, its greatest thickness being about half an inch. The intestine d e f is very long, measuring 8 feet 9 1/2 inches, of moderate diameter, varying from 4 to 3 1/2 twelfths. It is compactly and beautifully arranged in very numerous somewhat concentric folds, being coiled up like a rope, the duodenum d e curving backwards and upwards over the stomach for five inches, then returning, and enclosing the pancreas, until under the right lobe of the liver where it receives the biliary ducts. The cloaca is globular, 2 inches in diameter when distended; the rectum, exclusive of the cloaca 3 1/2 inches, and having at its upper extremity two bulging knobs in place of cœca. Now, the œsophagus and proventriculus are those of a Numenius, the stomach that of a Heron in the arrangement of its fasciculi, and in the softness of its epithelium; but otherwise it differs in being much larger and more muscular. The intestines are thicker and more muscular than those of Herons, and differ more especially in having two cœcal appendages, which however are extremely short, whereas the herons have merely a single cœcal prominence.
The heart, g, is remarkably large, being 1 inch and 10 twelfths long, 1 inch and a half in breadth. The lobes of the liver, h, i, are very large, and about equal, their greatest length being 3 inches; the gall-bladder globular, 8 twelfths in diameter. One of the testes is 11 twelfths long, 9 twelfths broad; the other 10 twelfths by 7 twelfths; their great size being accounted for by the individual’s having been killed in the breeding season.
In a female of much smaller size the œsophagus is 15 inches long; the stomach 2 inches in length, 1 inch and 9 twelfths broad; the intestine 7 feet 7 inches. The contents of the stomach, fishes, shrimps, and fragments of shells.
One of the most remarkable deviations from ordinary forms in this bird is the division of the trachea previous to its entering the thorax. It may be described as very short, a little flattened, and quite membranous, the rings being cartilaginous and very thin. Its diameter at the top is 5 twelfths, and it is scarcely less at the lower part, where, half-way down the neck, is formed an inferior larynx, k, which is scarcely enlarged. The two bronchi lm, l m, are in consequence excessively elongated. They are compressed, 5 twelfths in diameter at the commencement, gradually contracting to 3 twelfths, and enlarging a little towards the end; and are singular in this respect that the rings of the upper fourth are incomplete, the tube being completed by membrane in the usual manner, whereas in the rest of their extent, the rings are elliptical, entire, stronger, and those at the lower part united or anchylosed on the inner side. The rings of the trachea are 105, of the two bronchi 73 and 71. The contractor muscles are feeble and terminate at the lower larynx; from which no muscle extends along the bronchi, which, until they enter the thorax, run parallel and in contact, being enclosed within a common sheath of dense cellular tissue. The bronchi have the last ring much enlarged, and open into a funnel, which passing backwards and terminating in one of the abdominal cells, is perforated above with eight or ten transverse elliptical slits, which open into similar tubes or tunnels, opening in the same manner into smaller tubes, and thus ramifying through the lungs.
In the male bird, of which the upper part of the trachea has been destroyed, there are in one bronchus 80, in the other 71 rings, 20 of the upper rings being incomplete.