GRALLATORES. 275 



ovarium, nearly of the full size, and ready to receive its 

 calcareous covering. In its habits and disposition this bird 

 neither lies so close, nor has the crouching manner of the true 

 Snipes, but exposes itself to view like the Sandpipers, running 

 about either among the rushes or on the bare ground at the 

 edge of the water : on being disturbed, those I saw generally 

 flew off towards the brush, seeking shelter among the low 

 bushes, from which they were not easily driven or forced to 

 take wing. Its flight is straighter, slower, more laboured, and 

 nearer to the ground than that of the true Snipes. Considerable 

 confusion has always existed respecting the members of the 

 group to which this bird belongs, the opposite sexes of the 

 same species having been described as distinct ; from actual 

 dissection, however, of numerous examples, and from seeing 

 these birds mated in a state of nature, I am enabled to affirm 

 that the figures in the plate of the folio edition above referred 

 to are accurate representations of an adult male and female. 

 This species will be found on comparison to possess, among 

 other characters, much shorter toes than the Indian and 

 Chinese species, to which it is most nearly allied. On dissection 

 I also observed an anatomical pecuHarity of a very extra- 

 ordinary nature, the more so as it exists in the female alone j 

 I allude to the great elongation of the trachea, which passes 

 down between the skin and the muscles of the breast for the 

 whole length of the body, making four distinct convolutions 

 before entering the lungs. On discovering this extraordinary 

 formation I placed a body in spirits, for the examination of my 

 late friend Yarrell, who, as is well known, paid great attention 

 to this part of the organization of birds, and who informed 

 me that the position and form of the trachea in the llhijn- 

 chcBa australis is similar to that of the Semipalmated Goose, 

 figured in the 15th volume of the ' Trans. Linn. Soc' tab. 14. 

 The Cranes, Swans, Guans, &c., present us with species having 

 the trachea most singularly developed, several of them with 

 extensive convolutions before entering the lungs ; some with 



