528 LARUS MARINUS. 



|)hagiis, whicli is fifteen inches long, is about two inches and 

 a lialf in widtli, wlien moderately inflated, hut can he dilated 

 to rather more than three iuches. Its walls are thin, its 

 inner coat strongly plicate when contracted. The proventri- 

 eular belt is an inch and a qiuarter in breadth, its glands very 

 small and cylindrical. The stomach is small, tAvo inches and 

 a quarter in length, an inch and three-quarters in breadth ; 

 its lateral muscles moderate, the lower prominent, the tendons 

 large and radiated ; the epithelium very dense, thick, with 

 prominent longitudinal ridges. The intestine is fifty-three 

 inches long, narrow, its greatest width being four-twelfths 

 and a half; the cceca cylindrical, only half an inch in length, 

 and a quarter of an inch in width ; the rectum five inches 

 long, eight-twelfths wide, and dilating into a globular sac, an 

 inch and a half in diameter. 



The nostrils are linear-oblong, wider anteriorly, seven- 

 twelfths of an inch long, pervious, nearer the edge than the 

 ridge. The eyes are rather small, their aperture five-twelfths. 

 That of the ear roundish, and rather small. The feet are of 

 moderate length ; the tibia bare for about an inch ; the tarsus 

 slender, somewhat compressed, with twenty-four anterior 

 scutella. The hind toe is elevated, very small, with four 

 scutella ; the anterior toes of moderate length, rather slender, 

 the second considerably shorter than the fourth, which is 

 exceeded by the third in the same proportion. The second 

 and fourth have thick expanded margins, the soles are flat- 

 tened, and the webs with their edges concave. On the 

 second toe are twenty, on the third thirty-six, on the fourth 

 thirty-four scutella. The claws are small, slightly arched, 

 depressed, rounded, that of the middle toe with a thin 

 expanded inner edge. 



The plumage is full, close, elastic, soft; on the head, neck, 

 and other parts blended, on the back and wings compact ; 

 the feathers in general broad, rounded, and curved. The 

 wings are very long, of moderate breadth, pointed, with 

 thirty-four quills ; the first longest, the second scarcely 

 shorter ; the secondaries broad and rounded, the inner nar- 

 rower. The tail is rather short, and even. 



The bill is light yellow, the lower mandible with an 



