782 REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS 
tHEPRODUCTIVE ORGANS, or those which serve for pro- 
pagation, consist of the germ-producing glands and their efferent 
ducts, and are best considered according to sex. 
I. In the Female, a pair of Ovaries are developed, but with rare 
exceptions only that on the left side becomes functional. The 
mass of embryonic eggs (see page 195) of which each is composed 
presents the appearance of a cluster of grapes, situated at the 
anterior end of the KIDNEY of the same side, immediately below 
the posterior end of the Liver, and is separated from its fellow by 
the descending AORTA, whence it receives its supply of blood, 
REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS OF PIGEON. 
Fig. 1.—Female. cl?, second cloacal chamber in urodéum ; cl?, inmost chamber; k, kidney ; 
l.od, left oviduct; lod’, opening of the same into the urodeum; /.od’, infundibulum ; 
l.od’’, opening of the same into the body cavity; ov, ovary; r.od, abortive right oviduct ; 
ur, ureter ; wr’, opening of the same into the urodeum. (About 2/3 of the natural size. 
After T. J. Parker.) 
Fig. 2.—Male. 1, 2,3, the three principal lobes of the kidney ; Ep, epididymis ; SR, suprarenal 
bodies ; 7, testes ; w, ureter; v, vena cava posterior ; v.d, vas deferens with a swelling at S, 
(Natural size.) 
while it discharges into the posterior vena cava. The number of 
germs which form the ovary frequently amounts to several hundred, 
which during the breeding-season exhibit all stages of development 
from a mere microscopic object to a full-grown ripe ovum, with its 
large amount of yolk. The germs which do not ripen during the, 
season undergo a process of resorption, and this is accompanied by 
the dwindling in size of the whole ovary, so that during winter the 
determination of the sex of any particular bird may be a doubtful 
