DIGESTIVE APPARATUS OF BIRDS. 383 



series of stomachs, is much shorter than in most Mammalia ; but 

 is composed, as in them, of two portions ; the small and the 

 large intestine. The former, after having taken its first bend, 

 turns in different directions ; the second differs from it but little, 

 and is not much enlarged ; but it is generally distinguished by 

 the existence, at the point of their junction, of two tubular 

 appendages, ending with a " cul-de-sac" which are termed coeca 

 (ANIM. PHYSIOL., 214). These appendages are wanting, or at 

 least are very small, in most Birds of Prey ; but they are gene- 

 rally long and large in granivorous and omnivorous Birds. 



346. The Liver is very large, and fills a great part of the 

 chest, as well as of the upper portion of the abdomen, these 

 two cavities not being separated, as the Diaphragm is scarcely 

 developed. This gland is divided into two nearly equal lobes, 

 and generally gives origin to two hepatic canals, which, after 

 uniting, terminate in the intestine. There is almost always a 

 gall-bladder, which receives only a portion of the bile, and sends 

 it into the intestine by a separate canal. The Pancreas (sweet- 

 bread) is lodged in the first bend of the small intestine ; it is 

 generally long, narrow, and more or less divided. The Kidneys 

 are large, and are lodged in hollows excavated in the upper part 

 of the pelvis ; there is no urinary bladder ; but the ureters ter- 

 minate, as do also the oviducts, in the dilated extremity of the 

 rectum, which is termed the cloaca (Fig. 201). The urinary 

 excretion is almost entirely composed of uric acid, which is 

 not soluble ; and the amount of water in it is very small. 



347. The nutritious products of digestion are conveyed from 

 the intestine into the general circulation, by the lacteals ; which 

 by their union form two thoracic ducts; these open into the 

 jugular veins on each side of the base of the neck, as in Mamma- 

 lia (ANIM. PHYSIOL., 266). The blood of Birds is richer in 

 red particles than that of the Mammalia ; and these bodies, 

 instead of being circular, are elliptical in form. There is nothing 

 peculiar in the manner in which this fluid circulates ; and the 

 course it takes is the same as in the Mammalia. The blood 

 passes from the left ventricle of the heart, into the arteries which 

 distribute it to the several organs of the body ; it returns into 



