A History of North American Birds, Land Birds. Volume 3

Cos´tal, a. Pertaining to the ribs.

Costif´erous, a. Rib-bearing, as the dorsal vertebræ.

Cot´yle, n. Same as Acetabulum.

Cox´a, n. Hip.

Cra´nial, a. Pertaining to the skull.

Cra´nium, n. Skull.

Crest, Cris´ta, n. Any lengthened feathers of top or sides of head.

Crib´riform, a. Sieve-like.

Cri´coid, a. Name of a certain laryngeal cartilage.

Cris´sum, n. Properly, the under tail-coverts collectively. Oftener used to designate the circumanal plumage. (66.)

Cro´taphyte (depression). A concavity on the outside of the skull on each side behind, filled with muscle; temporal fossa.

Crown, n. Pileus; top of head, especially the vertex.

Cru´cial, Cru´ciform, a. In the shape of a cross. The crucial test is one experimentally conclusive.

Cruræ´us, n. Name of a certain muscle of the thigh.

Cru´ral, a. Pertaining to the crus, or shin.

Crus, n. The shin; segment of the leg between the thigh and ankle, represented by the tibia.

Crys´talline (lens), a. See Lens.

Cu´bit, n. The forearm.

Cu´bital, a. Pertaining to the forearm.

Cu´cullate, a. Hooded.

Cul-de-sac, n. “Bottom of a bag”; closed end of a cavity.

Cul´men, n. Ridge of upper mandible; highest median lengthwise line of the bill. (20.)

Cul´minal, a. Pertaining to the culmen.

Cultriros´tral, a. Having the bill shaped like a heron’s.

Cun´eate, Cun´eiform, a. Wedge-shaped. A cuneate tail has the middle feathers longest, the rest successively regularly shortened.

Cun´eiform (bone), n. One of the wrist-bones.

Curso´rial, a. Running; pertaining or belonging to an obsolete group, Cursores or runners.

Cus´pidate, a. Pointed as a spear-head.

Cuta´neous, a. Pertaining to the skin. Same as dermal.

Cu´ticle, n. Scarf-skin; outermost layer of skin, which continually exfoliates.

Cu´tis, n. Skin; the true skin, as distinguished from cuticle and subcutaneous tissue. Corium and derma are synonymous.

Cyst, n. Sac holding pathological products.

D

Dac´tyl, n. Finger or toe. Equivalent to digit.

Dactylothe´ca, n. Covering of the toes.

Dasypæ´dic, a. Synonymous with ptilopædic.

Decid´uous, a. Temporary; falling early. The dorsal plumes of the egret are deciduous.

Decomposed´, a. Separate; standing apart. A decomposed crest has the feathers standing away from each other.

Decum´bent, a. Lying or hanging downward.

Decurved´, a. Gradually curved downward. Opposed to recurved.

Decus´sate, a. Crossed; intersected.

Defeca´tion, n. Act of discharging the contents of the cloaca.

Degluti´tion, n. Act of swallowing.

Dejec´tion, n. Same as defecation. Also, the matters so discharged.

Del´toid, a. Triangular. A muscle over the shoulder is so named.

Demi- (in composition). Half; same as semi-.

Den´tary, a. An epithet of the foremost element of the compound mandibular bone.

Den´tate, Dentic´ulate, a. Toothed; notched as if toothed.

Dentig´erous, a. Bearing teeth. The Ichthyornis, Apatornis, and Odontopteryx (?) are dentigerous birds.

Dentiros´tral, a. Having the bill notched as if toothed. Belonging to a certain obsolete order, Dentirostres.

Denti´tion, n. Act of cutting teeth.

Denuda´tion, n. State of nakedness; act of laying bare.

Denu´ded, a. Naked; laid bare.

Deor´sum. Below.

Deplu´mate, Depluma´tus, a. Bare of feathers. (4.)

Depressed´, a. Flattened vertically. Opposite of compressed.

Deræ´um, n. Bottom or lower part of the neck. (Little used.)

Der´mal, a. Pertaining to the skin; made of skin; cutaneous.

Der´mal Appen´dage. Any outgrowth from the skin.

Dertrothe´ca, a. Covering of end of bill.

Der´trum, n. End of maxilla, in any way distinguished. (21.)

Desmognath´ous, a. Having the palate bones united.

Des´moid, a. Ligamentous.

Desquama´tion, n. Peeling off.

Dex´trad, a. Toward the right side.

Dex´tral, a. Of or on the right side.

Di- (in composition). Twice; double.

Diagno´sis, n. Distinctive knowledge. Also characterization, or a brief, precise, and exclusively pertinent definition. Diagnosis is nearly synonymous in this sense with definition; both differ from description in omitting non-essential particulars; but definition may include points equally applicable to some other object.

Diagnos´tic, a. Distinctively and exclusively characteristic. Feathers are diagnostic of birds.

Diaph´anous, a. Transparent.

Di´aphragm, n. Midriff; musculo-tendinous partition between thorax and abdomen, rudimentary or wanting in birds.

Diaphragmat´ic, a. Pertaining to the diaphragm.

Diapoph´ysis, n. Transverse process of a vertebra.

Diarthro´sis, n. Movable articulation of bones in general.

Dias´tasis, Dias´tema, n. A separation of bones, particularly the cranial ones, or of teeth, from each other.

Dias´tole, n. Dilatation of the heart, alternating with the systole or contraction, occasioning pulsation.

Dichot´omous, a. Divided into pairs.

Dichromatic, a. Of two colors, as the “red” and “gray” plumages of Scops asio.

Didac´tylous, a. Two-toed, as the ostrich.

Digas´tric, a. Double-bellied; name of a certain muscle.

Digit´igrade, a. Walking on the toes. Opposed to plantigrade.

Digitus, n.; pl. digiti. Digit. Finger or toe. (116.)

Dimorphic, a. Of two forms.

Diplo´ë, n. Light spongy network of bone between inner and outer surface of the skull.

Disc or Disk, n. Set of radiating feathers of peculiar shape or texture around the eye of owls.

Dissepimen´tum Nar´ium, n. Same as septum narium, which see.

Dis´tad, a. Toward an extremity.

Dis´tal, a. Remote; situate at or near an extremity; opposed to proximal.

Dis´tichous, a. Two-rowed; spread apart on either side of a middle line, as the hairs of a squirrel’s tail, or the tail-feathers of the Archæopteryx.

Ditok´ous, a. Producing but two eggs, as the pigeon and humming-bird.

Diur´nal, a. Pertaining to the daytime.

Divar´icate, a. Branching off; spreading apart; curving away.

Divertic´ulum, n. An offshoot of the small intestine.

Dor´sad, a. Toward the back. Opposite of ventrad.

Dor´sal, a. Pertaining to the back.

Dor´sum, n. Back; upper surface of trunk from neck to rump. (57.)

Down, n. Small soft feathers of plumulaceous structure, generally growing about the roots of plumæ, and concealed by them. See Plumulæ.

Down´y, a. Of plumulaceous structure. A part of the plumage is of down-feathers, and the bases of the contour feathers usually also are of downy structure.

Duct, a.. Any tube for conveyance of an animal product; as oviduct, sperm-duct, lachrymal duct.

Duod´enal, a. Pertaining to the duodenum.

Duod´enum, n. A short portion of the upper intestine next to the gizzard, receiving the pancreatic and hepatic secretions.

Du´ra Ma´ter, n. Outer membranous investment of the brain.

Dusk´y, a. Of any undefined dark color.

E

Eared, a. Having lengthened or highly colored auricular or other feathers on the side of the head. Eared grebe; long-eared owl.

Ec´dysis, n. Moult; the shedding and renewal of plumage.

Econ´omy (also written œconomy), n. Physical or physiological disposition. (Literally, regulation of a household.)

Ecto- (in composition). Outer.

Ectozo´ön, n. External parasite, as a louse; same as epizoön. Opposed to entozoön.

Eden´tate, Eden´tulous, a. Toothless, as nearly all birds are.

Edge of Wing. (95.) See Campterium.

Ef´ferent, a. Conveying outward or away; opposed to afferent.

El´ement, n. A simple ultimate constituent part of a compound organ. The centrum is an element of a vertebra.

El´evated, a. Said of the hind toe when inserted above the level of the others.

Elon´gate, a. Lengthened beyond usual ratio.

Emar´ginate, a. Notched at the end; slightly forked, especially in case of a tail so shaped; also notched, or abruptly narrowed along the edge, in its continuity, as the border of many a wing-quill.

Embonpoint, n. State of perfect health, as indicated by condition of fatness not amounting to corpulence or obesity.

Em´bryo, n. Fecundated germ or rudiment of an animal; said of a bird until hatched, and therefore corresponding to fœtus in mammalogy.

Embryol´ogy, n. Science or study of the development of animals before birth or hatching.

Embryon´ic, a. Pertaining to an embryo; being an embryo; not yet hatched.

Enam´el, n. The hard white substance covering the teeth.

Enarthro´sis, n. Ball-and-socket joint.

Enceph´alon, n. Contents of the cranium, especially the brain.

Endocar´dium, n. Lining membrane of the heart.

Endog´enous, a. Of internal growth or formation; interstitially deposited. Compare autogenous. Opposed to exogenous.

Endoskel´eton, n. The skeleton proper, or skeleton as commonly understood; the inner bony framework of the body. (Used in distinction from exoskeleton or dermoskeleton, such as some animals possess.)

Enter´ic, a. Belonging or relating to the intestines; intestinal.

Ento- (in composition). Inner.

Epenceph´alon, n. Hindmost segment of the brain.

Epi- (in composition). On; upon; over. Opposed to hypo-.

Epider´mis, n. Cuticle or scarf-skin.

Epidid´ymis, n. An associate organ of the testis, in birds apparently a remnant of the primordial kidney.

Epigas´trium, n. Pit of stomach; upper belly, next to breast. (A region not well distinguished in birds. The term is scarcely used.) (64.)

Epiglot´tis, n. Gristly flap on top of windpipe, rudimentary or wanting in birds.

Epignath´ous, a. Hook-billed.

Epiot´ic, a. for n. A certain element of the auditory capsule.

Epiph´ysis, n. Gristly cap on the end of a bone, afterward becoming bony and united.

Epipleu´ra, n. An obliquely backward bony process of a vertebral rib.

Epithe´lium, n. Superficial layer of mucous membrane. Sometimes also the thick tough membrane lining the gizzard.

Epithe´ma, n. Horny excrescence upon the bill.

Epizo´ön, n. An external parasite.

Epizoöt´ic, a. Parasitic among animals.

Erec´tile, a. Susceptible of being raised, as a crest; or capable of swelling and stiffening, as a penis.

Er´ythrism, n. A particular state of plumage characterized by excess of red pigment; it is well shown in Scops asio and other owls. (Compare albinism and melanism.)

Eth´moid, n. One of the cranial bones, in the nasal region.

Etyp´ical, a. Of exceptional character. Tending away from a particular type. Opposed to attypical.

Eusta´chian (tube), a. for n. The air-tube from the fauces to the inner ear.

Even (tail), a. Having all the feathers of equal length. Also called cauda æqualis or integra.

Ex- (in composition). Out; out of; away from.

Excres´cence, n. Outgrowth, fleshy or cutaneous.

Excre´ta, n. pl. Excrement, or other animal refuse.

Ex´cretory or Ex´cretive, a. Having power or quality of excreting. Excreting differs from secreting, in that the substance resulting is to be eliminated from the economy, not used; e.g. saliva is secreted; urea is excreted.

Exoccip´ital, a. or n. One of the lateral elements of the occipital bone.

Exog´enous, a. Produced by outgrowth.

Exosto´sis, n. Any morbid bony outgrowth or enlargement.

Exten´sor, n. Generic name of muscles that extend or straighten a limb or any of its segments.

Exte´rior Toes. (126.)

Extrem´ity, n. Any limb, member; equal to membrum, artus.

Ey´as, n. An unfledged hawk.

Eye´brow, n. (43.) See Supercilium.

Ey´ry or Ey´rie, n. Nest of a bird of prey.

F

Fabel´la, n. A certain sesamoid bone.

Fa´cet, n. Smooth, flattened articulating surface.

Fa´cial, a. Pertaining to the face.

Fa´cies, n. Face; whole front of head, excepting the bill.

Fæ´cal, a. Pertaining to excrement; excrementitious.

Fæ´ces, n. pl. Excrement; dung.

Fal´cate, Fal´ciform, a. Sickle-shaped; scythe-shaped.

Fal´conine, a. Like a hawk; belonging to the Falconidæ.

False Wing. (79.) See Alula.

Falx Cerebri, n. A certain fold of the dura mater.

Family, n. Systematic group of the grade between order and genus, generally distinguished or denoted by the termination -idæ, as Falcon-idæ.

Fas´cia, n. Broad band of color. Also, equivalent to Aponeurosis (which see).

Fas´ciated, a. Broadly banded with color.

Fas´cicle, n. Bundle.

Fas´cicled, Fascic´ulate, a. Bundled.

Fastig´iate, a. Bundled together into conical shape, or with enlarged head, like a wheat-sheaf.

Fau´ces, n. The jaws, internally; back of the mouth. Compare Pharynx.

Feather, n. (1; 143.) See Pluma, Penna. Any one of the objects which collectively constitute the peculiar covering of birds.

Fec´ulent, a. Excrementitious.

Fecun´dated, a. Impregnated; made fruitful; said of the germ of an egg which has received the male element.

Fecunda´tion, n. Impregnation; the usual consequence of the completed joint act of the ovarian and spermatic organs.

Fecun´dity, n. Fruitfulness.

Fem´oral, a. Pertaining to the thigh, or part of leg from hip to knee.

Fe´mur, n. Thigh-bone. Also used synonymously with thigh. (97.)

Fenes´trate, a. Furnished with openings (from fenestra, a window).

Fe´ral, a. Wild; not tamed. Opposed to domestic. The mallard is the feral stock of the tame duck.

Ferrugin´eous or Ferru´ginous, a. Rusty-red.

Fe´tus or Fœ´tus, n. Unborn young. (But the unhatched young of birds are oftener called embryos.)

Fibril´la, n.; pl. fibrillæ. Little fibre.

Fib´rin, a. Certain animal substance of fibrous composition, found in the blood and elsewhere.

Fi´bro-car´tilage, n. A kind of cartilage of fibrous structure, such as that between vertebræ and many other joints.

Fib´ula, n. Smaller outer leg-bone, lying alongside the tibia.

Fil´ament, n. Thread or slender fibre.

Filament´ous, Fil´iform, a. Threadlike; composed of filaments; oftener, very narrowly linear.

Filopluma´ceous, a. Having the structure of a filoplume.

Fil´oplume, n. Thread-like or hair-like feather; one with slender scape, and without web in most or all of its length.

Fim´briated, a. Fringed.

Fissipal´mate, a. Lobiped and semipalmate, as a grebe’s foot is.

Fis´siped, a. Having cleft toes. Opposed to palmiped.

Fissiros´tral, a. Having the bill cleft far beyond the base of its horny part.

Fissiros´tres, n. An obsolete order of cleft-billed birds.

Flam´mulated, a. Pervaded with reddish color.

Flank, n. Hinder part of side of trunk. (67.)

Flap, n. See Loma.

Flex´ion, n. Bending (of a limb). Opposed to extension.

Flex´or, n. Generic name of a muscle that bends a limb or any of its segments.

Flexu´ra (alæ), n. Bend of the wing; carpal angle; salient angle or prominence formed at the wrist when the wing is folded. (77.)

Flex´ure, n. See Flexura.

Floc´culent, a. Pertaining to the peculiar down of newly hatched or unfledged young birds. (Not used in ornithology in its common sense of flaky.)

Floc´cus, n. A peculiar kind of plumage of simple structure (generally downy), found in unfledged birds, at first growing directly from the skin, afterwards for the most part affixed to the tip of the true feather, of which it is the precursor, or rather the first-formed part; and finally falling off. In psilopædic birds the floccus is only associated with the true plumage, sprouting from the future pterylæ alone; in ptilopædic birds it also sprouts from the apteria, and in so far is unconnected with future plumage; the whole body is in such cases densely clothed. (Sundevall.)

Fϫtus, n. Same as Fetus (which see).

Fol´licle, n. Minute secretory sac.

Follic´ular, Follic´ulate, a. Having follicles; composed of follicles.

Foot, n. (112.) See Pes.

Foot-joint, n. Junction of toes collectively with the metatarsus. (100.) See Podarthrum.

Fora´men, n.; pl. foram´ina. Hole; opening; perforation. Foramen magnum, the large hole in the occipital bone transmitting the neural axis. Foramen lacerum, irregular vacuity between certain bones at base of skull. The foramen rotundum transmits the optic nerve; foramen ovale, the trigeminal nerve; the latter is also a name of the opening between right and left sides of the heart.

Fore´head, n. Front of head from bill to crown. (34.) See Frons.

Fore-neck, a. Whole front of collum, from chin to breast; whole throat. (51.) See Guttur.

For´ficate, a. Deeply forked.

Forked (tail), a. Having the outer feathers longest, the rest gradually successively shortened to the middle pair; when these are again lengthened somewhat, the tail is said to be doubly forked.

Fos´sa, n.; pl. fossæ. Ditch; excavated place. Used chiefly in the plural to denote the pits or grooves in which most birds’ nostrils open.

Fos´sil, a. or n. Dug out of the ground. Particularly, any organized body, or remains, trace, or mould of such body, naturally buried in past time by geologic agencies. The Archæopteryx macrurus, of the Jurassic formation of Solenhofen, a mesozoic bird, is the oldest known ornithic fossil.

Fosso´rial, a. Digging into the earth for a habitation.

Fos´ter. This word and its various compounds are used in their common senses in treating of the relations of young cowbirds and young cuckoos with the birds upon which they are parasitic.

Fo´vea, n. A slight depression.

Free, a. Said of the leg when not enclosed to the knee in the common integument of the body.

Fre´num, a. Bridle; hence, any cheek-stripe.

Fringe, n. Marginal membrane; also, marginal row of feathers. (135.) See Loma.

Fringed Toe. (134.)

Frons, n. Forehead. (34.)

Fron´tal, a. Pertaining to the forehead.

Fron´tal Bone, n. Principal bone of the forehead.

Fron´tal Points. See Antiæ. (36.)

Front of Tarsus. Instep. (104.)

Frugiv´orous, a. Fruit-eating.

Fulig´inous, a. Sooty-brown; dark smoky brown.

Ful´vous, a. Of a brownish-yellow color.

Fur´cate, a. Forked; forficate.

Fur´cula or Fur´culum, n. The merry-thought or wish-bone; the two clavicles or collar-bones taken together. Also called os furcatum.

Fus´cous, a. Of a dark-brown color.

Fu´siform, a. Spindle-shaped; tapering at each end.

G

Gal´eate, a. Covered as with a helmet; said of certain gallinules, coots, etc.

Gall, n. Bile; the secretion of the liver.

Gall-blad´der, n. Membranous sac attached to liver for holding bile.

Gall-duct, n. Tube for conveyance of bile into the intestine; the ductus choledochus.

Gallina´ceous, a. Belonging to the Gallinæ; having the nature of the domestic fowl.

Gang´lion, n.; pl. ganglia. Natural knot-like enlargement of a nerve.

Gape, n. Opening of the mouth; area of the opened mouth. (28.) Compare Rictus and Commissure.

Gastræ´um, n. The whole under part of a bird. (16.)

Gas´tric, a. Pertaining to the stomach or belly. The gastric juice of birds is the secretion of the proventriculus, or follicular stomach, not of the gizzard or grinding muscular stomach.

Gastrocne´mius, n. A muscle of the back of the leg.

Gemel´li, n. pl. The twins; certain muscles of the pelvis.

Ge´na, n. Cheek; feathered side of under mandible. (43.) See Malar Region.

Gen´erative Or´gans, n. Organs of reproduction in either sex.

Gener´ic, n. Pertaining to a genus; as, generic character, generic description.

Gen´esis, n. Act, mode, or conditions of reproduction. In science, genesis notes rather the laws and results of origination of individuals or species. The “genesis of species” is a term equivalent to the evolution of species from antecedent forms, with some; with others, their origination by creative fiat.

Genet´ic, a. Pertaining to genesis. Genetic descent, or genetic succession in species, is maintained by those who hold the theory of evolution.

Ge´nu, n. Knee; joint of femur with tibia.

Ge´nus, n.; pl. gen´era. An assemblage of species, or a single species, constituting a taxonomic group of value next below that of the family.

Gen´ys, n. See Gonys.

Ger´minal Ves´icle, n. Cell in the vitellus having a dark spot.

Gibbose´, Gib´bous, a. Swollen; protuberant; humped; hunched.

Gibbos´ity, n. A swelling or protuberance.

Gige´rium, n. Gizzard.

Gin´glymus, n. Hinge-joint. The knee and elbow are ginglymoid, or hinged joints.

Glab´rous, a. Smooth.

Gland, n. A soft fleshy organ, in which fluids of the body are modified to form new products, to be used in, or eliminated from, the economy. But some organs without ducts, and the function of which is unknown, are called glands, as the thymus, thyroid, and pineal. The liver is the largest gland of the body. The proventriculus is a glandular organ.

Glan´dular, a. Pertaining to glands; having glands; consisting of glands.

Glans, n. Head of the penis.

Glos´sa or Glot´ta, n. Tongue.

Glos´so-hy´al, n. Principal bone of the tongue.

Glos´so-pharyn´geal, a. Pertaining to the tongue and jaws. A certain nerve is so called.

Glu´tæal, a. Pertaining to the buttocks; certain muscles are so called.