| Feet. | In. | |
|---|---|---|
| Length of the body, from base of bill to extremity of tail | 2 | 4 |
| Length of the bill | 0 | 4 |
| Depth of the base of the bill | 0 | 1⅝ |
| Length of the tail | 0 | 8¼ |
| Length of ditto, exserted from the feathers of the urupigum | 0 | 3⅜ |
| Length of the thigh | 0 | 3¾ |
| Length of the tarsus | 0 | 3⅛ |
| Length of the middle phalanges | 0 | 5⅛ |
| Breadth of wings expanded | 7 | 4 |
| Breadth between the wings from the 1st joint | 0 | 4½ |
| Length of the 1st joint of the wing | 0 | 10¼ |
| Length of the 2nd joint | 0 | 10½ |
| Length of the 3rd joint | 0 | 4 |
| Length of the 4th, or pen-feathers[142] | 1 | 3 |
| Length of the inner angle of the eye to the base of the beak | 0 | 1⅛ |
The structure of the mandible is much thinner in this than in the large white species, and the nostrils are not so elevated and twisted.
The dissection exhibited the following appearances. The pleura and peritoneum were found inflated; the abdominal viscera, except the liver, were seen behind the latter; liver large; right lobe longer and larger than the left; gall-bladder two and one-eighth inches in length, narrow, attached to the liver only by the biliary ducts; stomach covered externally with much fat; the interior consisted of numerous rather tortuous longitudinal folds, and numerous papillæ covered the internal surface, from which, on pressure, a small quantity of a thick substance exuded, leaving a gaping opening: the first stomach was empty; the second stomach was lined with a greenish substance, and contained only an undigested beak of a cuttle fish; heart covered with much fat; gall-bladder full of bile of a grass-green colour; kidneys four-lobed, on one of the lobes was a small diseased spot, of the size of a pin’s head, from which some inky fluid could be expressed. This lobe was easily broken, and evidently diseased: it was the first lobe of the right kidney; ureters long, terminating in the cloaca.
The bill in this species differs from others of the genus, in being more slender and delicate in formation, more particularly when compared with that enormous type of the genus the D. exulans.
The interior of the mouth is of a white colour, excepting near the edges of the mandibles, which have a delicate pink tinge.
From the length of the bill in these birds their bite is not severe, except when they seize or strike with the hooked mandible, when the impression is strong, but not so great as would be expected from so large a bird.
On the 24th of July, 1832, in latitude 40° 32′ south, longitude 50° 45′ east, we captured the species called chlororynchus.[143] It was taken by getting its wing entangled in the line, (which was out with a bait attached to it,) as it flew under the stern; it was too old a bird to take bait, but not so wise as to escape the line, and avoid being entangled in it. On being hauled on board, it became unusually vociferous, and screamed for liberty in loud, hoarse, discordant cries. When, in the gentlest manner imaginable, we commenced measuring him, he vehemently exclaimed against it, and was declared by all on board a very noisy bird; he was, probably, an old stager, perfectly well aware of the fate that awaited him. He received the usual share of commiseration from the ladies when they understood he was to be dissected, accompanied by a request for the down.
I now proceed to describe this specimen, commencing with the dimensions, which may be regarded as the usual size of this species. This bird is doubtless the D. chlororynchus of Gmelin, allowing the slight difference in the plumage to be the result of age. Gmelin thus describes it:—