236 CROWNED PIGEONS. 



Upon a further examination of the interior of 

 this portion of the intestine, there was a thicken- 

 ing of the villous coat, with much secretion of 

 mucus, and also of coagulable lymph. The 

 whole of the remainder of the alimentary canal 

 had its external coats very vascular.* 



The specimen was a female, and, from the 

 sfmilarity of plumage, the others must also be 

 females. The plumage accords with the de- 

 scription given in our works of natural history 

 of this bird. Some bird-fanciers observe, that 

 they can distinguish male from female birds by 

 the sub-scapular feathers near the base ; the 

 male birds having always an odd number — as 

 five, seven, nine, eleven ; and the females always 

 an even number — as six, eight, twelve, &c., 

 according to the species. But, examining, on 

 a subsequent occasion, a male specimen of this 

 bird, I found no difference of plumage, so as to 

 form a sexual distinction. 



The two other birds are perfectly healthy in 

 appearance ; but as the dead one was so in its 

 external appearance, it is difficult to judge of 



* I have preserved the whole of the ahmentary canal from 

 the oesophagus to the rectum, (including the distended giz- 

 zard left unopened,) in an entire state in spirits. The liver, 

 ovaries, and trachea, I have also preserved in a similar man- 

 ner, and presented to the Royal College of Surgeons, in 

 London. 



