285 



CIRCUS. HARRIER. 



Bill short, as broad as deep at the base, attenuated 

 and compressed towards the end : upper mandible with 

 its dorsal line nearly straight and sloping to the edge 

 of the rather broad cere, beyond which it is curved so 

 as to form rather less than the fourth of a circle, the 

 ridge on the cere flattened, beyond it rather narrow 

 but convex, the sides rapidly sloping and a little con- 

 vex, the sharp edges overlapping, with a distinct fes- 

 toon or sharp-edged projection beyond the middle, the 

 tip deflected, slightly concave beneath, acute, its lower 

 part nearly perpendicular ; lower mandible with the 

 angle medial, broad and rounded, the crura sloping up- 

 wards and feathered, the dorsal line convex, the ridge 

 broad, the edges inflected, straight and soft at the base, 

 beyond the middle sharp and slightly arched, the tip 

 obliquely rounded. 



Mouth wide ; palate flat, with two prominent longi- 

 tudinal lines, upper mandible concave within and ha- 

 ving a lateral groove on each side for the reception of 

 the sharp inflected edges of the lower, which is more 

 deeply concave. The palatal slit defended by acute 

 papillae, as is the glottis behind. Tongue short, fleshy, 

 concave above, horny beneath on its fore part, rounded 



