48 



CINCLUS. DIPPER. 



Bill rather short, slender, slightly ascending, deeper than 

 broad at the base, much compressed towards the end; upper man- 

 dible with its dorsal outline slightly arched, the ridge rounded, 

 the sides convex, the edges sharp and inflected, wath an obscure 

 notch close to the narrow, slightly deflected tip ; low^er mandi- 

 ble slightly bent upwards, the angle medial and very narrow, 

 the crura having the sides sloping outwards, the dorsal line 

 slightly convex, the culmen narrow and rounded, the edges 

 sharp and inflected, the tip narrow, and rather acute ; the gape- 

 line straight, commencing under the anterior angle of the eye. 



The mouth very narrow ; the uj^per mandible internally 

 narrow, concave, with a central depressed line ; palate nearly 

 flat ; aperture of the posterior nares linear, margined with large 

 acute papillae ; lower mandible concave, with a central and two 

 lateral prominent lines. Tongue slightly extensile, sagittate, 

 narrow, grooved, serrulato-setose towards the end, and termi- 

 nated by two bristle-points. (Esophagus of nearly uniform 

 diameter; proventriculus with oblong simple glandules; stomach 

 muscular, roundish, compressed; its inner coat dense, tough, and 

 ruo-ous, intestine of moderate length, its duodenal portion wider; 

 the coeca very small and cylindrical. Plate XIII, Fig. 1. 



Nostrils linear, direct, with a bare margin above, in the 

 lower and forepart of the nasal membrane, which is covered 

 with very short feathers. Eyes rather small ; eyelids densely 

 feathered. External ear of moderate size, and roundish. 



The general form is short, full, and compact ; the head ob- 

 long, rather small, compressed, the forehead low ; the neck 

 rather short ; the body rather deeper than broad. The legs 

 are strong, of ordinary length ; tarsus compressed, covered an- 

 teriorly with a long undivided plate, and four inferior scutella, 

 posteriorly with two long plates united at a very acute angle, 



