ANGUS STOLIDUS, NODDY TERN. 711 



AduU, ireeding plumage. — Both mauclibles marked vi iih more or less distinct longi- 

 tudiual sf liip ; thoir tomia iuflected. Nasal sulcus deep aiul long, formed by the 

 rounded culmen and a iiromineut ridge, which runs along the upper mandiOle from its 

 base to beyond the nostrils, where it is gradually lost. Just above the base there is a, 

 small but distinct fossa, separated by. an oblique ridge from the large nasal sulcus. 

 Ciilraen about straight for half its length, regularly decurved toward the tip, basally 

 broad aud flat. Commissure slightly decliuatd-convux. Outline both of rami and 

 gonys concave, the former most so ; eminenlia sympliysis illy deliiied and not acute. 

 Primaries uuicolor, very broad almost to their ti|is, which arc rounded ; first primary 

 scarcely surpassing the second. Tail very long and much graduated; but tlieie is 

 also a slight emargination, the two central rtctriccs being a little shorter than 

 the next pair. Bill and claws black. Mouth black to a little beyond the angle of the 

 jaws, the fauces yellowish. Tarsi and Iocs dark reddish-brown, nearly black in the 

 dried skin. - Occiput bluish-plumbeous, becoming pure white on the front. Hides of 

 the head and neck all round with a decided wash of bluish-plumbeous. The whole 

 body is a deep fuliginous-brown, growing almost black on the remiges aud rectrices, 

 with a very dark spot anterior to and just above the eye. 



IJhiiensions. — Leugth, 10 inches; extent of wings, 31 ; wing from flexure, 10 to 10.50; 

 tail, about 6 ; hill along culmen, 1.75 ; height or -width at base, 0.:J8 ; tarsus, 1 ; middle 

 toe aud claw, 1.4.5; outer ditto, but slightly shorter; inner ditto, 1.20; hallux, 0.40; 

 breadth of webs, 0.90 ; diameter of eye, 0.30.' 



Anatomical cluiravlcrs. — Jlouth long aud narrow, its lateral outlines slightly concave. 

 Palate nearly flat behmd ; longitudinally arched before ; soft and vascular to withm an 

 inch of the tip. A prominent central ridge, beset with olituse papilUc, bifurcated poste- 

 riorly for 0.6, to give passage to the posterior nares. The narrow well-marked lateral 

 ridges commencing one and a half inches from the tip of the bill, extending beyond the 

 tcimination of the median ridge, smooth anteriorly, thickly papillate posteriorly. On 

 each side, just within the tomia, is a groove for the reception of the inferior maiiilla. 

 The palate is black nearly as far as the angle of the mouth ; the fauces ^ ellowish. 

 Posterior nares 0.9 long, anteriorly smooth, terminally papillate. Rima glottidis 0.25. 

 The oblique converging rows of papillae on the vaulted space at the back of the palate 

 are hut slightly developed. Tongue 1 90 long, very acute, corneous for more than two- 

 thirds it-i length ; its posterior extremity emarginate, papillate. CEsophagns very long, 

 measuring, wi h the proventriculus, 6 inches; as usual, very muscular and distensible. 

 Proventriculus a straight contimiation of the canal; its zone of gastric follicles very 

 narrow, the glands exceedingly small. This portion of the tube does not present the 

 marked differences from the OBSophagus as regards its lining membrane that is ordi- 

 narily found. Gizzard situate very far back in the abdomen, deflected at a consider- 

 able angle toward the right; its middle about opposite the ramus of the pubis. The 

 oesophagus is not of eqn.il calibre throughout, but dilates a good deal toward the pro- 

 ventriculus, where the muscular parietes are thicker, and the longitudinal rugie of 

 uincous membrane more numerous than elsewhere. The intestine measures 14 inches 

 in total length, from pylorus to anus. The duodenal fold is exceedingly short, being 

 less than one inch. It curves round to the left beneath the gigerium. Lyingbelow 

 the duodenal fold, and in contact with it, is the last intestinal fold, which has its apex 

 about three inches from the origin of the cceca. The coica are elongated, being longer 

 than in any other representative of the subfamily. They measure 1.40 inches. They 

 .are club-shaped, growing broader toward their extremities, after a .small uniform 

 diameter for half their leugth. Rectum exceedingly short, barely three-quarters of an 

 inch. Cloaca, as usual, very capacious, globular, 0.75 long. The urinary anQ spermatic 

 ducts open upon well-marked elevated papillaj, side by side, and close to the posterior 

 median line. Posterior division of the cloaca well marked by elevated folds of mucous 

 niembraue. The pancreas is very short, scarcely an inch in length, owing to the short- 

 ness of the duodenal fol3. The lobes of the liver are of very unequal dimensions, the 

 left being so small as to appear but a mere appendage to the right. The former meas- 

 ures one and a half in length by one in breadth ; is thick, with a rounded smooth sur- 

 face. The latter is scarcely three-quarters long by one-half broad. It is of much the 

 same shape as the right, to which it is closely connected by a short band of glandular 

 substance. The pancreatic and hepatic ducts pierce the intestine in close proximity, 

 about two inches below the pylorus. The kidneys are one aud a quarter inches long 

 by three-quarters broad. They are much less lohulated than in ^Ici-iia, and are more 

 like those of Larus. Their upper lobes are smaller than their lower, having very eon- 

 vex borders. The lower are suhquadraugular in shape ; the central ones only partially 

 divided into several small irregular masses. Pleart elongated, tapering, acute ; its 

 width across the base.of the ventricles seven-tenths. The trachea is short, being little 

 more than three inches ; its rings about one hundred ; flattened above, becoming more 

 cylindrical as it proceeds downward. Bronchi very short and quite wide. They are 

 very feeble at their commencement, being almost entirely ruemuranous, the half-riugs 

 hardly distinct enough to be counted. These number about twenty-four. Muscles as 



