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Show 282 ON THE ANATOMY OF THREE KINGFISHERS. [May 12, I may add a few remarks on some other points in the anatomy of the three birds. The tongue of Ceryle stellata and that of Alcedo ispida bear a close general resemblance to each other and differ widely in form from that of Dacelo gigas. In the first two (figs. 1 & 2) it is broad, thin, flat, and sharply acuminate at the tip, while in Dacelo (fig. 3) it is much thicker proportionally and of a sagittate form. Fig.l. Fig. 3. Fig. 1. Tongue of Ceryle stellata: b, basihyal; u, urohyal; h, hypohyal; c, cerato- hyal ; c', cartilaginous piece. 2. Tongue of Alcedo ispida. 3. Tongue of Dacelo gigas. The bronchial tubes in Alcedo ispida are considerably longer proportionally than those of Dacelo gigas. In the latter bird a well-marked subtriangular pale yellowish-red gland exists at the external side of the origin of each bronchus ; and traces of a similar structure exist in the former. The length of the oesophagus in Dacelo gigas is 5£ inches, and that of the intestinal canal 27 inches. There are no caeca. The diameter of the first portion of the intestine, which was distended with food, greatly exceeded that of the succeeding portions in the specimen examined. The dimensions of the digestive tube in Alcedo I could not accurately ascertain, as the viscera were considerably injured; but Macgillivray, who has figured the digestive organs of this species not very satisfactorily (the form of the tongue being incorrectly given, and the stomach represented as much more muscular than it is in reality), states the length of the oesophagus as 3 inches, and that of the intestine as 10^ inches. The liver was larger in proportion and more elongated in form in the specimen of Alcedo than'in that of Dacelo. The specimen of Dacelo examined was a female which had died in the beginning of February; and the left ovary was of a narrow oblong form, its length being 3| lines, and its breadth 1| line. The oil-glands of Dacelo and Alcedo differ considerably : in the latter the giand is deeply divided into two lobes, while in the former the anterior margin is only slightly exca- |