=The Internal Organs, or Viscera= (Figs. 304 and 305).—The viscera
(vis’se-ra), as in most vertebrates, _include_ the food tube and its
glands; the lungs, the heart, and the larger blood vessels; the kidneys
and bladder and the reproductive organs. The lower part, or gullet, is
enlarged into a _crop_. It is largest in grain-eating birds. It is found
in the V-shaped depression at the angle of the wishbone, just before the
food tube enters the thorax. The food is stored and softened in the
crop. From the crop the food passes at intervals into the glandular
stomach. Close to this is the muscular stomach, or gizzard. Are the
places of entrance and exit on opposite sides of the gizzard, or near
together? (Fig. 304.) Is the lining of the gizzard rough or smooth? Why?
Is the gizzard tough or weak? Why are small stones in the gizzard? Why
do not hawks and other birds of prey need a muscular gizzard? The liver
and pancreas empty their secretions into the intestines by several ducts
a little way beyond the gizzard. Beyond the mouths of two cæca (Fig.
305) the many-coiled intestine empties into the straight rectum, which
terminates in a widened part called the cloaca. Not only the intestine,
but the two ureters of the urinary system and the two genital ducts of
the reproductive system all empty into the cloaca (Figs. 304, 305).
[Illustration:
FIG. 306.—POSITION OF LUNGS AND AIR SACS (Pigeon).
_Tr_, windpipe; _P_, lungs; _Lm_, sac under clavicle with prolongation
(_Lh_) into humerus; _La_, sacs in abdomen.
]
The =lungs= have their rear surfaces attached to the spinal column and
ribs (_lu_, Fig. 304). They are connected with thin-walled, transparent
_air sacs_ which aid in purifying the blood. When inflated with warm
air, they probably make the body of the bird more buoyant. For the
names, location, and shape of several pairs of air sacs, see Fig. 306.
The connection of the air sacs with hollows in the humerus bones is also
shown in the figure. Many of the _bones are hollow_; this adds to the
buoyancy of the bird. The pulmonary artery, as in man, takes dark blood
to the lungs to exchange its carbon dioxide for oxygen. Of two animals
of the same weight, which expends more energy, the one that flies, or
the one that runs the same distance? Does a bird require more oxygen or
less, in proportion to its weight, than an animal that lives on the
ground? Are the vocal chords of a bird higher or lower in the windpipe
than those of a man? (Fig. 307.)
[Illustration:
FIG. 307.—POSITION OF VOCAL CORDS (_str_) OF MAMMAL AND BIRD.
=Question=: Does a fowl ever croak after its head and part of its neck
are cut off? Explain.
]
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