ALIMEXTAUY TRACT OF CERTAIN BIUDS. 



81 



/lifriutili.'<* -Mid I'odicfps cn'siaiasf, of the former of wliicb s2)ecies 

 I have examined two examples. The plan of the intestinal tract 

 in the Grebes is very distinct and nnlike that of any other birds 

 that I have studied. In Tachr/hajites the duodenal loop is con- 

 siderably longer than the ileic (the precise reverse of the condition? 

 obtaining in the Parrots), and the two are attached by a duodeno- 

 ileic ligament which extends about halfway along the ileic loop 

 (see text-fig. 27). I find only two jejunal loops (Mitchell figures 

 four — two long and two short, exactly as in Ara araraibna)^ which 

 are long and closely adherent for the whole of their length. The 

 inner of the two loops, that which is immediately connected with 

 the ileic loop, bore in one specimen a Meckel's diverticulum, as 

 is indeed figured by Mitchell. The eeeca extend about halfway 

 along the ileic loop, 



Text-fio-, 27. 



Intestinal tract of Tachyhaptea fluviatilis. 

 Lettering as before. 



Fodicejjs cristatus conforms to the general plan seen in the last 

 species, but difl'ers in detail. The ileic loop is peculiar and folded 

 upon itself in a way. If unravelled it would be longer than the 

 duodenal loop, and thus differs from that of Tachyhajjtes fluviatilis, 

 shown in the illustration (text-fig, 27). The extent of the ligament 

 uniting this with the duodenal loop is much as in Tachyhaptes. 

 In the middle part of the intestine there are only two loops, as in 



* Trans. Linn. Soc. tnm. cit. p. 18tj. 

 t Ibid. p. 185, «-. 0. 



Piioc. ZooL. Soc— 1911. No. VJ, 6 



