THE AMERICAN COOT. 



143 



mouth is ^ inch. The tongue is fleshy, thick, 11 twelfths long, concave 

 above, with the tip narrowed, but rounded. The oesophagus, a b c, is 8 

 inches long, of the uniform width of |- inch; the proventriculus 9 twelfths in 

 breadth. The stomach, c d e, is a very large, extremely muscular, trans- 

 versely elliptical, oblique gizzard, 1^ inches long, 2 inches in breadth; its 

 lateral muscles extremely 

 developed, the right 10 

 twelfths, the left 1 inch in 

 thickness; the tendons ra- 

 diated, and covering nearly 

 the whole surface; the in- 

 ferior and superior muscles 

 narrow and prominent. Its 

 contents are sand and re- 

 mains of shell-fish. The 

 epithelium forms two large 

 grinding plates, of which 

 the right is concave, the 

 left convex. The intestine, 

 efg h ij, is long and very 

 wide; it first curves along 

 the edge of the stomach to 

 the distance of 4i inches, 

 returns to the liver, runs 

 along the right side to the 

 extremity of the abdomen, 

 is convoluted in an ellip- 

 tical form, with 12 folds. 

 Its length is 4 feet 8 inches, 

 its width from ^ inch to 3j 

 twelfths, toward the rectum 

 enlarging to \ inch, and so 

 continuing to the end. The 

 coeca are extremely elon- 

 gated, being 11 inches in length, for 2 inches at the commencement only 2 

 twelfths in width, afterwards 4 twelfths, and again contracting to 2 twelfths, 

 toward the end, which is obtuse; their distance from the extremity 4 inches. 

 There is no cloacal dilatation. 



The extremely developed gizzard, with its large grinding surfaces, the 

 very long and wide intestine, and the extraordinarily large coeca, together 

 with the uniform undilated rectum, indicate the most direct proximity to 



