THE SEMIPALMATED SNIPE, OR WILLET. 



329 



and rump white; the lower and upper tail-coverts with a few undulated lines 

 of brownish-grey; the wings as in summer, as is the tail, only that the mid- 

 dle feathers are grey. 



Length 15| inches; wing from flexure 8^; extent of wings 31; tail 3^; 

 bill along the back 2 T 7 2, along the edge of lower mandible 2ff ; tarsus 1/^; 

 middle toe 1 T %, its claw i. Weight 10 oz. 



Female. Length to end of tail 15 1 - inches, to end of wings 16, to end 

 of claws ISi; wing from flexure 9|; tail 3^; bill along the ridge 2 T 7 2, along 

 the edge of lower mandible 2^; bare part of tibia lf^; tarsus 2 T 7 2-; first toe 

 T S 2, its claw T V; second toe lf^, its claw yf; third toe Iff, its claw -ff ; fourth 

 toe l-^-, its claw T 2 2-; extent of wings 3(H. 



Mouth very narrow, its 

 width being only 5 twelfths; 

 the two longitudinal ridges 

 on the palate remarkably 

 elevated and thin; two series 

 of papillae; posterior aper- 

 ture of nares linear; ante- 

 rior part of upper mandible 

 flat, with a median promi- 

 nent line, and thin project- 

 ing edges; lower mandible 

 deeply grooved. Tongue 

 1 inch 8 twelfths long, 

 trigonal, slender, tapering 

 to a slender horny channel- 

 led point; its base emargi- 

 nate and papillate. (Eso- 

 phagus, a b c, 6f inches 

 in length, 11 twelfths in 

 width; proventriculus, b c, 

 10 twelfths broad. Sto- 

 mach, c d e, a very strong 

 gizzard, of a roundish form, 

 \\ inches long, and of the 

 same breadth; its lateral 

 muscles very large and dis- 

 tinct, as are the tendons; 

 epithelium very thick, 

 dense, with two oblong 

 grinding plates, each having 



