ARDEINyE. 
121 
the head oblong, much compressed, flattened in front. 
Bill long, straight, stout, tapering, compressed ; upper 
mandible with the dorsal line nearly straight, the ridge 
broad at the base, narrowed in the rest of its extent, the 
sides sloping, and more or less convex, the edges thin, 
the tip acute ; lower mandible with the angle very long 
and narrow, the dorsal line nearly straight, the sides 
sloping outwards, the edges thin, the tip acuminate. 
Mouth rather wide, and capable of being much dilated, 
in consequence of the flexibility of the crura of the lower 
jaw ; palate anteriorly with two papillate ridges, and a 
median prominent line running to the point of the man- 
dible ; tongue long, slender, trigonal, tapering, sagittate 
at the base, with a large pointed papilla on each side, 
the tip acute ; oesophagus very wide in its whole length, 
as is the proventriculus, of which the glands form a broad 
belt, having at its upper margin numerous large crypts 
in groups ; stomach a very large rounded sac, having the 
muscular coat extremely thin, the inner soft, and also * 
very thin ; a globular pyloric lobe ; intestine very long, 
and extremely narrow ; at the commencement of the rec- 
tum an oblong small coecum, but no lateral appendages ; 
cloaca very large, and globular. Trachea considerably 
flattened, and gradually narrowed ; the last four wings 
halved ; a single pair of inferior laryngeal muscles, ex- 
tending from the lateral muscles to the last ring ; bronchi 
wide, with large membranes. Eyes of moderate size, 
generally surrounded by a bare space. Nostrils linear, 
nasal "membrane small. Aperture of ear small, and 
roundish. Tibiae very long, generally bare to a great 
extent ; tarsi long, and rather stout ; toes four, long, 
scutellate above ; the first slender, and nearly on a level 
with the anterior ; claws short, or moderate, arched, com- 
pressed, and pointed. Plumage generally full, but not 
close ; feathers on the lower part of the neck, fore part 
of the back, and scapulars, elongated ; wings very large, 
