363 



CIRCUS. HARRIER. 



The birds which constitute the genus Circus are remarkable 

 for presenting characters indicative of an approximation to the 

 Owls on the one hand, and on the other to the Hawks, pro- 

 perly so called, and the Buzzards. 



The bill is short, as broad as high at the base, compressed 

 and attenuated toward the end : upper mandible with its dor- 

 sal outline declinate and nearly straight as far as the edge of the 

 cere, then decurved in about the fourth of a circle, the ridge 

 on the cere broad and flattened, afterwards narrow but convex, 

 the sides rapidly sloping and moderately convex, the edges with 

 a broad festoon, the tip deflected, subtrigonal, acute ; lower 

 mandible with the angle medial, wide, and rounded, the crura 

 sloping upwards and feathered, the dorsal line somewhat convex, 

 the back broad, the sides rounded, the edges involute, beyond 

 the middle sharj) and slightly arched, the tip obliquely trun- 

 cate. Figs. 230, 231, 233, 234. 



Mouth wide ; upper mandible concave beneath, with a groove 

 on each side, and thin projecting margins ; lower mandible 

 deeply concave, its edges fitting into the grooves of the upper. 

 Palate flat, with two longitudinal papillate ridges ; posterior 

 aperture of nares oblong, anteriorly linear, with papillate mar- 

 gins. Tongue short, fleshy, concave above, horny beneath, 

 sagittate and papillate at the base, its tip rounded and slightly 

 emarginate. CEsophagus, PI. XXI, Fig. 3, a be d, very wide, 

 with an extremely large crop, be; its pro ventricular portion, 

 d e, much dilated, and having a complete belt of glandules. 

 Stomach, e, very large, round, somewhat compressed ; its mus- 

 cular coat very thin, being composed of a single series of fas- 

 ciculi, its tendinous .spaces small. Pylorus without valves ; 

 intestine, efj, of moderate length and width ; coeca very small, 

 cloaca, J I, very large and globular. 



