Ornithological biography, Vol. 4 (of 5) : $b An account of the habits of the birds of the United States of AmericaAudubon, John James
Science
Ornithological biography, Vol. 4 (of 5) : $b An account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America
Audubon, John James
Birds -- North America
In an adult Male, the tongue is 1 inch 9 twelfths long, has numerous
conical papillæ at the base, is deeply grooved along the middle, has
two lateral series of bristles, and terminates in a thin rounded lobe,
2 twelfths long. On the middle line of the upper mandible are about ten
short conical papillæ, and on each of its margins about 35 lamellæ;
on the lower an equal number. The heart is 1 inch 8 twelfths long,
1 inch 2 twelfths broad. The œsophagus, 8-1/2 inches long, is wide,
its diameter at the upper part being 1 inch, towards the middle of
the neck 1 inch and a quarter. The proventriculus is 1-1/2 inch long;
its glandules cylindrical, 1-1/2 twelfths in length, and, as in all
other ducks, arranged so as to form a complete belt. The stomach is a
powerful gizzard of a roundish form, 1 inch 10 twelfths long, 1 inch 10
twelfths broad, its lateral muscles very large, the right 10 twelfths
thick, the left 9 twelfths. In the stomach were various small bivalve
shells and much gravel. The cuticular lining longitudinally rugous; the
grinding plates 3/4 inch in diameter. The intestine, 5 feet 7 inches
in length, has an average diameter of 6 twelfths. The rectum is 7-1/2
inches long, 8 twelfths in diameter. Of the cœca one is 3 inches 4
twelfths long, cylindrical, obtuse, 2-1/2 twelfths in diameter, the
other 4-1/2 inches long.
The aperture of the glottis is 8 twelfths long, with numerous minute
papillæ behind. The trachea presents the same structure as that
of the Velvet Duck. Its upper rings, to the number of 9, are very
narrow, and continuous with a large bony expansion, 7 twelfths long,
and 8 twelfths broad. Beyond this part its diameter is 5 twelfths,
gradually diminishes to 3 twelfths about the middle, then enlarges
to 5 twelfths. In this part the number of rings is 78. Then comes a
roundish or transversely elliptical enlargement, 1 inch 2 twelfths in
breadth, 9 twelfths in length, convex before, slightly concave behind,
and composed of about 12 united rings. The trachea then contracts to 4
twelfths and presently enlarges to form the inferior larynx, which is
large, ossified, but symmetrical. In this space there are 6 distinct
rings, and 10 united. The entire length of the trachea is 7-1/2 inches,
its rings are all osseous and strong. The contractor muscles are very
strong, pass along the sides of the lower dilatation, on which are
given off the cleido-tracheals, then continue to the commencement of
the inferior larynx, where the sterno-tracheals come off. The bronchial
half-rings 25, unossified.
The cavity of the nose is very large, being 2 inches long, 1/2 inch
in diameter at the lower part, continued narrow in front over the
dilatation causing the external protuberance of the base of the bill.
The olfactory nerves are of moderate size; the maxillary branches of
the fifth pair very large.
AMERICAN AVOSET.
_RECURVIROSTRA AMERICANA_, GMEL.
PLATE CCCXVIII. ADULT MALE, AND YOUNG IN WINTER.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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