Page:The birds of America, volume 7.djvu/174

126 extent of wings 32; wing from flexure 10|f ; tail 5f ; bill along the back If, along the edge of lower mandible 2i; tarsus ±% middle toe 14, its claw ■£§. Weight 4| oz.

Width of mouth 9 twelfths. Tongue 1 inch 3 twelfths long, very slender, tapering to a horny point, grooved above, emarginate and papillate at the base. (Esophagus 4 inches 4 twelfths long, its width along the neck 8 twelfths, within the thorax dilated as in the last species, its breadth 1 inch 1 twelfth; the proventricular belt 4 twelfths broad. Stomach very small, 10 twelfths long, 8 twelfths in breadth, of the same structure as in the last. Lobes of liver 1 inch 2 twelfths and 11 twelfths; gall-bladder oblong, 6 twelfths in length, 3 twelfths in breadth. Intestine 13 inches long, 2 twelfths wide at the commencement, 1^ twelfths toward the rectum; coeca 24 twelfths long, twelfth wide,  inches from the extremity; cloaca ovate, 7 twelfths in width. Trachea 3 inches long, from 2f twelfths to 1^- twelfths in breadth, roundish; the rings 110, very feeble. Bronchi very wide, one with 26, the other with 24 half rings.

Genus III.— LARUS, Linn. GULL.

Bill shorter than the head, nearly straight, moderately stout, compressed; upper mandible with its dorsal outline straight to the middle, then decurved, the ridge convex, the sides rapidly sloping, the edges sharp and direct, the tip rather obtuse; nasal groove rather long and narrow; nostrils sub-medial, longitudinal, linear-oblong, broader anteriorly; lower mandible with the angle long and pointed, the outline of its crura decurved anteriorly, that of the ridge slightly concave and ascending, the sides erect, the edge-line decurved toward the tip, which is narrow but obtuse. Head of moderate size, broadly ovate; neck of ordinary length; body compact. Feet rather long or of moderate length, rather stout; tibia bare at the lower part; tarsus moderately compressed, with numerous curved anterior scutella, and smaller behind; tQes slender, of moderate length, scutellate; first very small, third a little longer than fourth. Claws small, slightly arched, compressed, rather