Fig. 3 represents:-the proventricular sac thrust forward, f g h; the gizzard, h; the duodenum, i j k, pulled to the right side; the convolutions of the intestine, I m, under the kidneys; the coca, n; the rectum, o; and the cloaca, p.

The proventricular glands are very numerous, but not so closely placed as is usual, although scattered over a much larger extent, from e to g, in Fig. 2. Between the termination of the glands and the stomach there is a portion destitute of glandules. The stomach or gizzard has its muscular coat thick, its tendons moderate, its inner surface covered with a rather thick but not very hard epithelium, which is more prolonged on two opposite sides, although in the fundus it is complete.

This curious digestive apparatus agrees very nearly with that described and figured by Sir EVERARD HOME as that of Alca Alle. The stomach, it is seen, is excessively large in proportion to the size of the bird; but why it should be so, and moreover be curved in this manner, is not very obvious. Conjectures are easily made, and might run in this form. This little bird, which wanders over the face of the ocean, subsisting upon garbage, oily and fatty substances, small fishes, and even sea-weeds, requires a large stomach for the reception of its heterogeneous fare, which not being always very nutritious or easily digestible, must be very plentifully intermixed with the gastric juices, and detained a considerable time; which conditions are accordingly provided for by the very great number and extensive dispersion of the proventricular glandules, and the curve of the organ. Should any hard substances, as crustacea, be introduced, they are pounded by the gizzard; but as the bird is little addicted to feeding on such substances, that organ is reduced to a very small size.

The aperture of the glottis is 1 twelfths long. The trachea is 1 inch 7 twelfths in length, wide, flattened, its diameter from 2 twelfths to 1 twelfths; its rings unossified, 82 in number. The bronchi are short, wide, of about 12 half rings.

FAMILY XLIV.-ALCINE. AUKS.

Bill not longer than the head, much compressed, generally very high, in the species approaching the next family rather slender. Nostrils small, linear, basal, and sub-marginal. Head large, broadly ovate, anteriorly narrowed; neck short and thick; body full, compact, ovate, or somewhat elongated. Feet short, rather stout, placed far behind; tibia bare for a short space; tarsus very short, compressed, anteriorly scutellate; toes three, of moderate length, scutellate, webbed. Claws strong, arched, acute. Plumage dense, blended, soft. Wings small, narrow, pointed. Tail very short. Tongue slender, trigonal; œsophagus very wide, within the thorax extremely dilated; stomach rather large, muscular, with the epithelium dense and longitudinally rugous; intestine long and wide; coca of moderate size. Trachea simple, with a single pair of inferior laryngeal muscles. Egg generally single.

GENUS I.-MORMON, Illiger. PUFFIN.

Bill about the length of the head, nearly as high as long, exceedingly compressed, at the base as high as the head, obliquely furrowed on the sides; upper mandible with a horny dotted rim along the basal margin; its dorsal line decurved from the base, the ridge narrow, at the base rounded, the sides rapidly sloped, with three or four curved oblique grooves, the edges sharp, their outline nearly straight, the tip deflected, very narrow, but obtuse; lower mandible with the angle very narrow, and so and so placed that the base of the bill is inflected beyond the perpendicular, the dorsal line a little convex at first, towards the end ascending, and nearly straight, the sides perpendicular, the edges sharp; the tip very narrow, obliquely truncate; gap-line extending downwards a little beyond the base of the bill, and furnished with a soft corrugated extensile membrane. Nostrils marginal, linear, direct, in the horny part of the bill. Head large, roundish-ovate; neck short and thick; body full and rounded. Feet short, rather stout, placed far behind;

tibia bare for a short space; tarsus very short, little compressed, anteriorly with a series of small scutella; toes three, connected by entire webs, the outer and middle toes nearly equal. Claws strong, of moderate length, arched, acute, that of the inner toe much curved. Plumage close, blended, soft. Wings short, narrow, curved, acute; the first quill longest; secondaries short and rounded. Tail very short, slightly rounded, of sixteen feathers.

THE TUFTED PUFFIN.

MORMON CIRRHATUS, Lath.

PLATE CCCCLXII.-Male.

The specimen from which I drew the figure of this singular looking bird, was procured at the mouth of the Kennebec river, in Maine. It was shot by a fisherman gunner, while standing on some floating ice, in the winter of 1831-32. No other individual was seen. I could not obtain any information respecting its habits; but as the bird was in tolerable order, I hope that my figures of it will prove not unacceptable. It was a male, and appeared to be adult. My friend, the Prince of MUSIGNANO, mentions this species as being an inhabitant of the seas between North America and Kamtschatka, being, he adds, often found on the western coasts of the United States in winter.

ALCA CIRRHATA, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. ii. p. 791.

MORMON CIRRHATUS, Bonap. Syn., p. 429.

TUFTED MORMON or PUFFIN, Nutt. Man., vol. ii. p. 539.

TUFTED PUFFIN, Mormon cirrhatus, Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. iii. p. 364.

Male, 15, 221.

Extremely rare and accidental on the coast of the United States in winter. Common in the Arctic Seas, and on the north-west coast of America., Adult Male.

Bill about the length of the head, nearly as high as long, extremely compressed, at the base as high as the head, furrowed on the sides. Upper mandible with a horny rim along the basal margin, its dorsal line convex to the