of M'Leay, Swainson, Vigors, fyc. 179 



mouths. In support of this, we shall bring to our aid the 

 acute observer and indefatigable naturalist, Wilson, who, in 

 his North- American Ornithology, speaking on the iVoctua 

 (Glaux Rylands's MSS. * ) iVyctea, snow owl, makes the fol- 

 lowing decisive observations. " Unlike most of this tribe, he 

 hunts by day as well as by twilight, and is particularly fond 

 of frequenting the shores and banks of shallow rivers, over the 

 surface of which he sails, or sits on a rock a little above the 

 water, watching for fish. These he seizes with a sudden and 

 instantaneous stroke of the foot, seldom missing his aim." 

 (Wilson's North- American Ornithology.) 



We find the natatorial, or cetaceous, type represented in 

 the iSimiidae by Pdpio, because the species in this genus have 

 a large head, and little or no tail ! {On the Natural History 

 and Classification of Quadrupeds, vol. 72. Lardner's Cab, Cyc, 

 p. 72.) In Ursinae, the fact that an animal probably preys on 

 dead fish and blubber is a sufficient reason for Mr. Swainson 

 regarding it as aquatic (Ibid., p. 146.); while a species of ox 

 (Bos Thersites) is considered as this type, merely because the 

 " fore part of the shoulders is elevated " ! ! (Ibid., p. 285.) 

 In this last instance, the natatorial type is analogically repre- 

 sented by an animal frequenting neither the sea nor its vicinity; 

 being furnished neither with a short tail nor short legs ; and 

 not in the least carnivorous ; although all these properties are 

 to be found in, and constitute, the primary type. 



The suctorial (also termed the gliriform and grallatorial) 

 is distinguished, according to our author, from the other types, 

 by these animals deriving their food by suction; being al- 

 ways the smallest in size, the most feeble and defenceless in 

 structure, and the most defective in the organs of mastication ; 

 their clothing being of a uniform dull colour. There is also 

 a great length, or attenuation, of the body ; the head is always 

 very small, generally prolonged into a pointed snout; and the 

 mouth, as adapted to sucking, uncommonly small. (On the 

 Natural History and Classification of Quadrupeds, p. 305. ; 

 comp. On the Geography and Classification of Animals, p. 

 254.) 



* Our reason for proposing Glaux, as the sub-generic name of the snow- 

 owl (JVyctea) and its affinities, arises not from any wish to substitute our 

 own for other naturalists' nomenclature, but merely to prevent the disad- 

 vantage necessarily accruing from there being two genera in the animal 

 kingdom with the same appellation. Thus, an extensive group of insects 

 are arranged under the genus iVoctua, and iVoctua is likewise used to de- 

 signate the owl in question, and its affinities. Glaux is taken from the 

 Greek, and has the same signification as the Latin iVoctua, simply an owl. 

 — R. [Glaux is the name of a genus of plants characterised and denomi- 

 nated by Linnaeus.] 



