230 



DK. P. CHALMEES MITCHELL ON THE 



CHARADRIIFOllMES. 



LlMICOL^E. 



K. I Lave already described and figured the conformation of the intes- 

 tinal tract in the Curlew (Numenius arquata, 26. fig. 15). The duodenum is straight 

 and narrow. Meckel's tract is more archecentric than in the Gruiformes, inasmuch as 

 the minor loops are not well separated from the general course of the gut. None the 

 less, such minor loops exist, and markedly recall the common Gruiform type, although 

 the condition is less apocentric. There are three main loops corresponding to " ," " b," 

 and " c " of the Gruiform gut, and, as in that assemblage, " b " the axial loop bears on 

 its distal limb a very large Meckel's diverticulum. The distal part of the Tract consists 



Fig. 49. 



Intestinal Tract of Tringa alpina. Lettering as in ing. 41. 



of a supra-duodenal loop not well separated from the general outline of the Tract, but 

 drained by a " bridging" vein, and having closely attached to it the pair of long ca^ca. 

 The rectum is rather short and straight. The condition in Himantopus is similar to this 

 but still more archecentric that is to say, the loops are still less marked off from the 

 general sweep of Meckel's tract. Vanellus vulg aris and V. cayennensis are like Numenius. 

 In Tringa alpina (fig. 49) a simple modifica tion of the Numenius condition is presented. 

 Loop " b " of Meckel's tract has grown out axially, leaving the large diverticulum at its 



