THE GULLET. 43 



it opens into the third stomach or gizzard, D, (ventriculus 

 callosus,} communicating with the intestinal canal or bowels, 

 E, which vary very much in length in different birds, though 

 on the whole they are shorter than in the class of four-footed 

 animals. The annexed plate is merely intended to convey a 

 general idea of the stomachs of birds, and must by no means 

 be depended upon as an accurate representation applicable to 

 any particular family, since in each there is a marked 

 variation with respect to the size, form, and other internal 

 arrangements ; a full explanation of which, though extremely 

 interesting, from the beautiful adaptation to the habits of the 

 bird, cannot in this little work be attempted; a few, how- 

 ever, may be briefly pointed out. 



Thus, in what are called the carnivorous birds, feeding on 

 flesh or fish, containing hair, feathers, or bony substances, 

 which are of difficult digestion, the gullet is of a vast size 

 and capacity compared with the other parts, often exceeding 

 in width the stomach itself. In some of the water birds it 

 is large enough to contain even a whole fish till the proper 

 stomach is ready to receive it. In watching Cormorants at 

 a distance with a telescope, they may be sometimes seen 

 quietly reposing, with their mouths half open, and the tail 

 of a fish hanging out, the remainder gorged in their capacious 

 gullet: and Sea-Gulls will swallow bones of three or four 

 inches in length ; the lower end only reaching the stomach, 

 whilst the rest continues in the gullet, and slips down 

 gradually, in proportion as these lower ends are consumed. 



The usual food of Gulls consists of fish ; but when con- 

 fined they will thrive very well on a diet with which they 

 must be perfectly unacquainted by the sea-side. We may 

 form, too, some idea of their voracity, from the quantity 

 consumed by a Gull kept and fed in a garden, which de- 

 voured in one day fourteen mice and two rats. Another was 

 seen to swallow an entire rat, an operation, however, not 

 accomplished without some difficulty, the bird making several 

 efforts before it succeeded, and even then the tail remained 

 visible for several minutes. But the voracity of Gulls is 

 exceeded by some other fish-eating birds. Thus the Pelican, 



