1880.] 



ANATOMY OF PASSERINE BIRDS. 



389 



As regards the alimentary canal, there is nothing peculiar. The 

 tongue, in the specimen forwarded from Paris, was removed ; but, 

 as we know from M. Milne-Edward's figure, it is triangular and 

 bifid at the end. There is no crop developed ; and the zonary pro- 

 ventriculus is half an inch deep. The stomach is a strong gizzard, 

 rather elongated in shape, with thick and considerably plicated 

 epithehum. The liver is unequilobed, the left lobe being half the 

 size of the right ; it has a gall-bladder. The total length of the intes- 

 tines is seven inches, of which the last half-inch is 'large intestine. 

 The caeca are truly passerine, being mere nipples, and rather widely 

 separated. 



The syrinx of Philepitta being hitherto entirely unknown, 1 

 herewith give a description and figures of it. 



Fig. 2. 



Fig. 3. 



Fig. 2. Syrinx of Philepitta, from before. Fig. .3. The same, from behind. 

 Fig. 4. The same, from the right sirle. (These figures are magaified about 

 4 times.) 



The trachea is slightly laterally compressed below ; the rings, 

 which are complete, are somewhat irregular in shape, owing to the 

 greater or less development of the notchings on their borders. In 

 front, of the last few rings preceding the terminal one, two or more 

 are joined together by vertically directed bars, which makes it diffi- 

 cult to count their number with exactitude. Behind, however, they 

 are all free. The terminal tracheal ring is narrow laterally, and 

 closely apposed to the first bronchial semirings ; in front and behind 

 it is produced downwards triangularly, and behind bears a well- 

 developed forwardly directed narrow pessulus. As seen from behind, 

 therefore, the terminal tracheal ring has somewhat the shape of an 

 arrow-head. The narrow sterno-tracheales are inserted on about 

 the last ring but six. The first bronchial semirings are thickened, 

 and very much arched, being concave downwards. As seen from the 

 side (fig. 4) they are more strongly convex anteriorly than posteriorly. 

 The second and third semirings are very slender indeed, closely ap- 

 proximate, much shorter and much less concave downward, so that a 

 large membranous fenestra is left between them and the first semi- 

 rings. The fourth and fifth semirings are also slender, but less so 

 than the last two : they are slightly concave upwards, so that 



26* 



