Ornithological biography, Vol. 4 (of 5) : $b An account of the habits of the birds of the United States of AmericaAudubon, John James
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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
A male bird, from Nova Scotia, examined. The upper mandible internally
has a longitudinal median ridge; the palate is convex, with two lateral
ridges. The tongue is 5-1/2 twelfths long, emarginate and serrulate at
the base, very much flattened, tapering to a horny point. The heart,
Fig. 1, _a_, is of a very elongated narrow conical form, 2 twelfths
in length, 4 twelfths in breadth at the base. The lobes of the liver,
_b_, _c_, are equal, 6-1/2 twelfths long. The œsophagus, _d_, _e_, is 1
inch 10 twelfths long, of a uniform diameter of 2-1/2 twelfths; behind
the liver, it enters as it were a large sac, _f_, _g_, _h_, 9 twelfths
of an inch long, which gradually expands to a diameter of 6 twelfths,
forming a broad rounded fundus _g_, then curves forwards on the right
side, and at _h_ terminates in a small gizzard, about 3 twelfths long,
and nearly of the same breadth, from the left side of which comes off
the intestine. The latter passes forward, curving to the right, behind
and in contact with the posterior surfaces of the liver, then forms
the duodenal fold, _h_, _j_, _k_, in the usual manner. The intestine,
on arriving at the right lobe of the liver, at _k_, receives the
biliary duct, curves backward beneath the kidneys, and forms several
convolutions, which terminate above the proventriculus. It then becomes
much narrower, and passes directly backward, in a straight course to
the rectum, which is only 4 twelfths of an inch long. The cœca are
oblong, 1-1/4 twelfth in length, and 1/2 twelfth in diameter. The
intestine is 8-1/2 inches long, its diameter diminishing gradually from
2 twelfths to 3/4 of a twelfth.
[Illustration: Fig. 1.]
[Illustration: Fig. 2.]
[Illustration: Fig. 3.]
In Fig 2. are represented:—the lower part of the œsophagus, _d_, _e_,
_f_; the proventricular sac, _f_, _g_, _h_; the very small gizzard,
_h_; the duodenal fold of the intestine, _i_, _j_, _k_. Here the parts
are viewed from the left side.
Fig. 3. represents:—the proventricular sac thrust forward, _f_, _g_,
_h_, the gizzard, _h_; the duodenum, _i_, _j_, _k_, pulled to the right
side; the convolutions of the intestine, _l_, _m_, under the kidneys,
the cœca, _n_; the rectum, _o_, and the cloaca, _p_.
The proventricular glands are very numerous, but not so closely placed
as is usual, although scattered over a much larger extent, from _e_ to
_g_ in Fig. 2. Between the termination of the glands and the stomach
there is a portion destitute of glandules. The stomach or gizzard
has its muscular coat thick, its tendons moderate, its inner surface
covered with a rather thick but not very hard epithelium, which is more
prolonged on two opposite sides, although in the fundus it is complete.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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