THE AMERICAN - OYSTER-CATCHER. 
241 
rapidly graduated ; secondaries broad and rounded, the inner much 
elongated and tapering. Tail short, rounded, of twelve rather broad, 
rounded feathers. 
Bill vermilion, lighter at the base. Edges of eyelids vermilion ; iris 
bright yellow. Feet very pale flesh-colour ; claws brownish-black. Head 
and neck dull black, tinged with bluish-grey ; lower eyelid white ; the bases 
of the feathers on the chin white. The general colour of the upper parts is 
light greyish-brown, tinged with olive, and in certain lights with faint 
reddish-purple reflections ; the edge of the wing, the tips of the secondary 
coverts, the secondary quills, excepting the inner elongated ones, pure 
white ; as are the breast, sides, under wing-coverts, abdomen, sides of the 
rump, the upper and the lower tail-coverts. Basal half of the tail white, 
the rest greyish-brown, like the back. 
Length to end of tail IT 2 , to end of claws 19 £ ; wing from flexure 10£, 
tail 4f ; extent of wings 36 ; bill along the back 3f ; along the edge 3g ; 
bill at the base T 9 2 , at the deepest part in the middle T 8 2 ; naked part of 
tibia 1 ; tarsus 2f ; middle toe 1 T V> its claw ri- Weight lib. 4f oz. 
The bill varies considerably in length and depth. Individuals vary in 
length from 17 to 18 inches. 
The female is precisely similar to the male. 
One of many specimens preserved in spirits, a female, presents the follow- 
ing particulars. The roof of the mouth is flat, with a median groove towards 
the end ; the palate with two longitudinal ridges covered with reversed 
papillas ; the posterior aperture of the nares linear, margined with papillte. 
The tongue is short, 9f twelfths long, triangular, tapering to a blunt point, 
emarginate and papillate at the base, flat above, thin and fleshy. The oeso- 
phagus, abode, is 8f inches long, at the upper part 9 twelfths in width, 
but at the lower part of the neck dilated into an elongated sac or crop, 1 inch 
10 twelfths wide ; on entering the thorax it contracts to 9 twelfths. The 
proventriculus, d e, is If inches in breadth. The stomach, f g, is oblong, If 
inches long, 1 inch 2 twelfths in breadth ; its muscular coat thick, and dis- 
posed into two lateral muscles of moderate strength ; the epithelium tough, 
dark red, with numerous longitudinal rugae. The proventricular glands are 
cylindrical, 2 twelfths long, forming a continuous belt If inches in breadth. 
The contents of the stomach are testaceous mollusca, with a few fragments 
of shells and opercula. The lobes of the liver are very unequal, the right 
3f inches long, the left 2i. The intestine, g hj k, 58 inches long. It 
forms the duodenal curve in the usual manner, then runs backward nearly 
to the extremity, forms several folds or convolutions, then curves up over 
the stomach, and passes directly to the anus. Its average width is 4 twelfths. 
The coeca, 1 1, are 4] inches in length, their greatest width 3 twelfths, their 
