ARDEA CINEREA. 305 



irregular folds which are attached to one another ; then they make two 

 other folds separate from the other three, gradually passing from the 

 right to the left while forming these folds : in the last of these folds are 

 the two caeca, which are long. The last part of these folds passes 

 upwards behind the stomach, and terminates in the rectum, which is 

 bent down, and passes on to the anus. There is one oviduct, as usual 

 in birds * : no crop, but a pretty large oesophagus. The trachea is 

 flattened, having a rather oval section, so as to make as little prominence 

 on the neck as possible : it makes some very curious turns within the 

 substance of the sternum 2 . 



The Crown-Bird \_Grus pavonina, Cuv.]. 



It has a pretty strong gizzard. The duodenum makes the usual 

 fold, in which lies the pancreas ; the intestine then makes three folds 

 upon itself, which lie in the right side ; it then makes two other folds, 

 which are not so closely connected with one another ; these are more 

 in the left ; from thence it continues to the rectum. The two caeca are 

 about an inch long, and are attached to these last folds, beginning at 

 the rectum, and are about an inch from the anus. 



Of the Herons [Ardeida]. 



I do not yet know whether the heron is one species of a tribe or a 

 genus : the heron and the bittern come near to be two species of one 

 genus ; but the serrated toe-nail may remove them so far as only to be 

 two species of one tribe, and whether they are two species of one or of 

 two genera, yet they form part of a tribe : but I am at present not 

 sufficiently acquainted with their connexions to make out the tribe to 

 which they belong 3 . Their legs are long, as also their toes, and nearly 

 one half of what is called the thigh is not covered with feathers ; and 

 they can bring their legs in a straight line when standing. The herons, 

 like the bitterns, have five places, or fine tufts of feathers, upon the 

 skin, viz. one on each side of the thigh and pelvis ; one in each groin, 

 where the thigh and abdomen unite ; and one on the breast. 



The Heron [Ardea cinerea, Linn.]. 

 The oesophagus is very large, passes straight down, does not take the 



1 [Hunt. Prep. No. 2726.] 2 [Osteol. Series, Nos. 1322, 1334.] 



3 [Cuvier divided them into two genera, ' les herons vrais ' (Ardea) and ' les 

 Butors ' {Botaurus) : and from these also he separated the night-herons, ' les biho- 

 reaux ' {Nycticorax). Hunter's ' Tribe ' would seem to signify the modern ' Family ' 

 Ardeidce.~] 



VOL. II. . x 



