285 



SAXICOLA. STONECHAT. 



Bill of moderate length, straight, slender, depressed at the 

 base, compressed towards the end : upper mandible with its 

 dorsal outline slightly declinate and nearly straight, the ridge 

 narrow at the base on account of the breadth of the nasal mem- 

 brane, the sides sloping at the base, convex towards the end, 

 the edges sharp and overlapping, with a slight sinus, the tip 

 declinate, narrow and rather blunt ; lower mandible straight, 

 the angle of moderate length, rather narrow, and somewhat 

 rounded ; the back broad and rather flattened at the base, nar- 

 row and convex towards the end, the sides of the crura nearly 

 flat and sloping outwards, towards the end convex, the edges 

 sharp and inflected, the tip narrowed to a blunt point ; the 

 gape-line straight. 



The mouth rather wide ; both mandibles concave within, 

 with a median prominent line ; the palate nearly flat, with 

 two longitudinal prominent lines ; the posterior aperture of the 

 nares oblongo-linear, edged behind with small papillse. Tongue 

 of moderate length, sagittate, narrow, at the base papillate, two 

 of the papillse much larger, concave above, horny towards the 

 end, bristly on the edges towards the end, which is slit. Aper- 

 ture of the glottis with two rows and a large pad of papillae 

 behind. The oesophagus is of moderate width, nearly uni- 

 form in diameter ; the proventriculus oblong with short oblong 

 glandules. The stomach of moderate size, roundish-elliptical, 

 compressed, its lateral muscles rather thick, the lower not 

 very distinct, the tendons rather large, the cuticular lining 

 tough and longitudinally rugous. The intestine is of mo- 

 derate length and width, of nearly uniform diameter through- 

 out ; the cceca very small, oblong ; the rectum dilated towards 

 the end. 



Nostrils oblong, direct, pervious, in the fore part of the 



