SHORE PIPIT. 195 



The bill is straight, slender, broader than high at the base, 

 much compressed, nearly as long as the head. The upper 

 mandible has its dorsal line at first a little declinate, then 

 slightly arched, the edges slightly inclinate, the tip sharp, with 

 the notch very small. The lower mandible has the angle long 

 and narrow, the dorsal outline ascending and straight, the tip 

 very narrow. Both mandibles are very narrow and concave 

 within, with a prominent median line ; the palate flat with two 

 ridges ; the tongue very slender, seven and a half twelfths 

 long, its tip slightly slit and fringed. The oesophagus is two 

 inches and eight-twelfths long ; the stomach elliptical, eight- 

 twelfths long, six and a half broad, its muscles distinct and 

 very strong; the intestine eight-twelfths long; the rectum 

 eleven-twelfths ; the ccEca cylindrical, one-twelfth long. 



The nostrils are oblong, one-twelfth in length, with a nar- 

 row operculum. The eyes of moderate size, their aperture a 

 twelfth and a half in diameter ; that of the ear two and a half 

 twelfths. The feet are of moderate size ; the tarsus much 

 compressed, with seven anterior scutella ; the first toe nearly 



as stout as the third, with eight 

 scutella ; the second with ten ; 

 the third with twelve ; the 

 fourth a little shorter than the 

 second, with twelve scutella. 

 The claws are moderately arch- 

 ed, very long, extremely com- 

 pressed, and tapering to a fine 

 point, that of the hind toe scarcely so long as the first joint. 



The plumage is very soft and blended. There are a few very 

 small bristle-feathers at the base of the bill. The wings are 

 rather long : the first four primaries are nearly equal, the second 

 and third longest ; the second, third, and fourth cut out on 

 the outer web towards the end ; the inner primaries and outer 

 secondaries are abrupt and slightly emarginate ; the inner three 

 secondaries taper to a rounded point ; the sixth is nearly as long 

 as the longest primaries, when the wing is closed. The tail is 

 rather long, and slightly emarginate. 



The bill is dusky, with the edges and the basal part of the 



