Bill long, slender, straight, or slightly recurvate, higher than broad
at the base, extremely compressed toward the end; upper mandible with
the dorsal line straight and slightly sloping at the base, somewhat
convex beyond the nostrils, then straight and sloping to the point,
the ridge broad and flattened as far as the prominence, afterwards
extremely narrow, the sides sloping at the base, perpendicular towards
the end, the edges rather sharp, the tip abrupt and wedge shaped;
nasal groove long, bare; lower mandible with the angle of moderate
length, the dorsal line ascending and slightly convex, the sides
erect, the edges thin, the tip abrupt and wedged. Nostrils subbasal,
linear, near the margin. Head of moderate size, ovate, the forehead
rounded; neck of moderate length; body compact. Feet of moderate
length, rather stout; tibia bare for about a fourth of its length;
tarsus slightly compressed, covered all round with hexagonal scales;
toes of moderate length, stout, marginate, flat beneath, webbed at the
base, the outer considerably longer than the inner, the first wanting.
Claws rather small, arched, moderately compressed, obtuse. Plumage
generally blended, on the back compact. Wings long, pointed, the first
quill longest. Tail short, nearly even, of twelve feathers. Tongue
short, triangular, fleshy; œsophagus dilated into a pretty large
crop; stomach oblong, muscular, with the epithelium dense and
longitudinally rugous; intestine long and rather slender; cœca long
and nearly cylindrical; cloaca globular.