Читать книгу Audubon's Birds - John James Audubon - Страница 9

Mouth opening to beneath the hind part of the eyes; bill extremely short, very broad at the base, compressed at the end; upper mandible decurved at the point, the edge inflected, with an indistinct sinus. Nostrils basal, approximate, oblong. Head large and depressed; neck short; body rather slender. Feet extremely short; tarsus rounded, destitute of scutella; toes extremely short, the three anterior nearly equal; hind toe very small, and versatile; claws strong, compressed, arched, very acute.

Chimney Swift

Chaetura pelagica

Plate 158

Swifts

Plumage compact; no bristles at the base of the upper mandible; wings extremely elongated, falciform, the first quill longest; tail of ten feathers. Oesophagus of moderate width, without crop; stomach oblong, moderately muscular, with a dense rugous epithelium; intestine short, and rather wide. No inferior laryngeal muscles. Nest in crevices or holes, or attached to high places. Eggs: elongated, white.

Seaside Sparrow

Ammodramus maritimus

Plate 93

Swallows