1ñc morphological changes of the floor of the oropharynx of the quail
from 1-45 days old ""ere studied ~)' and b, •carmins electron
microscope. The oral floor increases in length with the advancement of



the age but at a slower rate than the tongue. In all studied ages the
tongue does not fill the oral floor completely. Therefore there is a
distance between the tip of the tongue and the rostral end of the oral
floor, the length of this distance varies in different ages. The relation
between the position of the frenulum linguae, 'the transverse row of the
lingual papillae and the angle of the mouth depends upon lhe age of the
bird. The dorsurn of the apex. and the rostral part of the body of the
tongue are covered by filiform papillae which become thicker, longer
and cylindrical with the advancing age. At high magnification the scaleshaped
cells of the body of the tongue are covered, at one day old, by
complex pattern of microplicae which are extensively present at 45 days
old showing labyrinthine pattern. The lingual papillae 'in general are
cone-shaped, they have wide bases and pointed apices at one day old. In
older quails the papillae increase in size and become elongated with
relatively narrower bases and blunt ápices. The position, length and
shape of the laryngeal inlet as well as the width of the laryngeal sulcus
vary according to the age of the bird. With the advancement of the age,
the pharyngeal papillae increase in size and the rostral row attains a
slightly curved appearance, moreover the few scales distributed on the
papillary surface at one day old increase in number and size till covering
the entire surface at 45 days old.