104 ALAUDA ARVENSIS. 



short, the head oblong and of ordinary size, the wings and tail 

 long, the feet slender. 



The bill is about half the length of the head, rather strong 

 and tapering, a little higher than broad at the base, its gape- 

 line straight, the edges sharp and without notch, the tips a 

 little rounded. The tongue is narrow, sagittiform, nearly flat 

 above, with the tip lacerated. The cesophagus is three inches 

 long, of nearly uniform diameter, when dilated measuring 

 about three-twelfths, when collapsed two-twelfths. The pro- 

 ventriculus is half an inch long, its glandules large and oblong. 

 The gizzard is eleven twelfths long, nine-twelfths in breadth, 

 its muscles distinct and large, its anterior or left tendon larger, 

 its cuticular lining tessularly rugous excepting on the spaces 

 opposite to the lateral muscles. The pylorus is situated in a 

 deep groove or fissure near the cardiac orifice, on the anterior 

 and right side of the stomach. The intestine is eleven inches 

 and three-fourths in length ; its duodenal portion for six inches 

 gradually diminishes from two and a half twelfths to a twelfth 

 and three-fourths, then for a short space enlarges to five-twelfths, 

 and at the coeca contracts to a twelfth and a half. The coeca 

 are cylindrical, two twelfths long, and half a twelfth in diame- 

 ter. The rectum is an inch and a half long. 



The eyes are rather small, their aperture being two-twelfths. 

 That of the ear is broadly elliptical and very large, three-twelfths 

 and a fourth in diameter. The nostrils are small, elliptical, open, 

 but covered by the feathers. The tarsi are slender and com- 

 pressed, their anterior and posterior scutella indistinct above ; 

 the first, second, and fourth toes, excluding the claws, nearly 

 equal, the third much longer. The hind claw is singularly 

 elongated, especially in old birds, the third is much longer than 

 the two lateral ; they are all feebly curved, much compressed, 

 laterally channelled, and tapering. On the first toe are six, on 

 the second eight, on the third twelve, on the fourth twelve 

 scutella. 



The plumage is soft, with slight gloss, rather compact above, 

 blended beneath. The feathers in general are much curved, 

 ovate, and rounded, with a slender plumule of few filaments. 

 Those about the base of the bill are bristle-tipped, and a series 



