BLACK SWIFT. 015 



blunt point. The mouth opens nearly as far back as the pos- 

 terior edge of the eye, and measures eight and a half twelfths 

 across. The tongue is very small, three-twelfths of an inch 

 long, triangular, with the apex slit. The salivary glandules, 

 Plate XXII, Fig. 5, //, are aggregated into two large masses, 

 placed under the tongue, and the mouth is copiously supplied 

 with a viscid secretion. The oesophagus, hcd^ is two inches 

 and seven-twelfths long, narrow, of uniform width ; the pro- 

 ventriculus, cd, with very short glandules. The stomach, de^ 

 is ten-twelfths long, or when dilated an inch and nine-twelfths 

 broad, elliptical, compressed ; its muscular coat rather thin, of 

 rather large fibres ; its tendons of moderate size ; the cuticular 

 lining rather thin, tough, and rugous. Pylorus small, without 

 valve, entered by the cuticular coat of the stomach. Intestine, 

 defk, seven inches and a quarter long ; its duodenal portion, 

 fg h, three-twelfths in diameter, the rest contracting to a twelfth 

 and a half; but the rectum rapidly enlarged to a pyriform sac, 

 j k, half an inch in diameter. There are no cocca. 



The eyes are rather large and prominent, their aperture two- 

 twelfths in diameter ; that of the ears three-twelfths. The 

 feet are extremely short, but very strong ; the tarsus feathered 

 anteriorly ; the toes very short, differing little in length, but 

 the third largest, the second next, and the first or inner 

 smallest ; the latter is directed inwards and forwards, but can- 

 not be turned directly backwards ; they all have only two 

 phalanges. The claws are very strong, curved, acute. 



The plumage is soft, slightly glossed, moderately compact. 

 There are no mandibular bristles. The eyelids are bare, but 

 ciliated with short, tufty, feathers. The wings, which extend 

 about an inch and a half beyond the tips of the tail, are falci^ 

 form, being incurved towards the end ; the quills eighteen ; 

 the secondaries and their coverts very short, and rounded ; the 

 primaries and their coverts excessively long, with very strong 

 shafts ; the second quill is a little longer than the first, when, 

 the wing is closed, but the latter is slightly longer when the 

 wing is extended ; the third is a good deal shorter, and the 

 other primaries rapidly diminish. The tail is long, and much 



