230 
RADRICES. 
wall in the neighbourhood of a pigeon-house at Westhall, in 
the parish of Monymeal, Fifeshire, 31st December 1825. The 
feathers were quite fresh and entire, like those of a wild bird. 
I owe the possession of the specimen to the ornithological 
zeal and attention of the K,ev. A. Esplin, schoolmaster of 
Monymeal.’’ It does not appear that another individual has 
been met with in Britain or Ireland ; but M. Temminck states 
that the species has occurred in Norway and Russia. 
Columba migratoria, Linn. Syst. Nat, i. 285 — Ectopistes 
migratoria, Audubon Synops. 194 ; Ornith. Biogr. i. 319. 
ORDER XII, RADRICES. SCRAPERS. 
The only general character distinctive of every species^ 
belonging to this group, is one derived from the digestive 
organs. A very large dilatation of the oesophagus, form- 
ing a crop, lying when distended equally on both sides of 
the neck, and such an enlargement of the coeca as to ren- 
der their capacity at least half of that of the intestine, 
occur together in no other birds. It is very difficult to 
assign general characters of any other kind to them ; but 
they may be described as follows : 
Body large and full ; neck of moderate length ; head 
oblong, rather small. Bill short, with the upper man- 
dible arched, transversely concave, its edges overlapping, 
the tip blunt. Mouth of moderate width, or rather nar- 
row ; tongue short, triangular, flat above ; oesophagus nar- 
row, but expanded into a very large subglobose crop ; pro- 
ventriculus oblong ; stomach a powerful gizzard, of which 
the muscles are very large, the tendons radiated, the epi- 
thelium forming two thick, elliptical, transversely rugous 
plates, opposite the muscles, but in the other parts thin- 
ner ; intestine long and rather wide ; coeca extremely 
