BEAKS. 



175 



attached in such a manner to the occiput as to admit of great ex- 

 pansion, which permits of its swallowing plaice and other flat fish of 



Fig. 63. 



of Crane. 



considerable size. The Crane (Fig. 63) has the bill rather longer 

 than the head, strong, straight, compressed, and pointed at the ex- 

 tremity ; the sides of the mandible deeply channelled with nostrils, 

 and closed backwards by a thin membrane. 



Fig 64- — Bill of Goose. 



In the Goose (Fig. 64) we find the bill short, not longer than the 

 head, conical, covered at the base with a cerous skin, with under 

 mandible smaller than the upper. In the Sparrows (Fig. 65) the bill 



Fig. 65. — Bill of Sparrow. 



Fig. 66 



of Cuckoo. 



is strong and conical, the upper mandible slightly curved, the lower 

 compressed and smaller than the upper ; nostrils lateral, basal, round, 

 and partly concealed by the short feathers at the base of the mandi- 

 bles. In the Cuckoo (Fig. 66) the bill is remarkably small and 

 weak, the sides inflexed and sometimes gaping. 



