( 634 ) 

 FRIGATE PELICAN. 



TaCHYPETES AqUILUS, VlEILL. 

 PLATE CCLXXI. Vol. III. p. 495. 



Male. As in the Gannets and Pelicans, the cells of the subcuta- 

 neous cellular tissue are extremely large and distensUe. The mouth is 

 very wide, its breadth being 1 inch 7 twelfths, opening to nearly beneath 

 the posterior angle of the eye. The palate is convex, with two horny 

 thin-edged ridges, and anteriorly a median ridge of the same kind ex- 

 tending to the tip. The posterior apertiu-e of the nares is linear, 1| 

 inch in length. The lower mandible is extremely narrow toward the 

 end, and deeply grooved, with a kind of joint on each side near the base, 

 rendering it capable of being extended to 2 inches 5 twelfths. The 

 tongue is similar to that of the PeHcans, Gannets, and Cormorants, be- 

 ing exceedingly small, 7| twelfths in length, fleshy, flattened, 4^ twelfths 

 in breadth at the base, 2 twelfths at the middle, the tip obtuse. The 

 nostrils, which are situated at the commencement of the groove on each 

 side of the ridge, are so inconspicuous as to be with difficulty detected, 

 being quite linear, 3^ twelfths long, and covered above by a membranous 

 edge. The aperture of the ear is of moderate size, 3 twelfths in width ; 

 that of the eye is ^ inch. 



The heart is of an ovate form, broader and rounder than usual, its 

 length 1 inch 4^ twelfths, its breadth 1 inch 2 twelfths. The lobes of 

 the liver are very unequal, the right being 2 inches 1 twelfth long, the 

 left 1 inch 5 twelfths ; the gall-bladder oblong, 9 twelfths in length, 

 5 twelfths in breadth. 



The oesophagus, a be, is 11^ inches long, at the commencement 2^ 

 inches in width, presently contracting to 1 inch 9 twelfths, at the lower 

 part of the neck expanded to 2 inches, within the thorax 1 inch 4 twelfths ; 

 the proventriculus, be, 1 inch 5 twelfths, its belt of glandules complete, 

 1 inch 2 twelfths in breadth, 7 prominent rugae. The stomach, cd, is very 

 small, roundish, 1 inch 4 twelfths in diameter, considerably compres- 

 sed ; its muscular coat very thin, consisting of a single series of fasci- 

 culi ; the tendons circular, i inch in diameter ; its inner coat soft and 

 corrugated, several of the proventricular rugae running down upon it. 



