Genus Strix, Sfc. 189 



The trachea of the different species of owls so nearly resembles 

 the same part in the falcons, as to make a separate description 

 unnecessary, and the same may be said generally of the cssophagus, 

 stomach, and intestines, as the similarity of food would appear to 

 require. The contents of the stomach have always been a subject 

 of examination, but their usual food being known, I have but to 

 add, that the short-eared owl {S. Brachyotos) is the only bird of 

 prey in which I ever found the remains of a bat. In the species 

 of the genus Strix^ the two ca;cal appendages will be found con- 

 siderably developed ; in the barn owl {S, Flammea) as well as in 

 the short-eared owl, they are small at their origin, afterwards di- 

 lated, and each one inch and three-quarters in length. 



I am. Gentlemen, 



Yours, &c. 



William Yarrell. 

 Ryder Street^ Oct. 1826. 



DESCRIPTION OF PLATE VI. 



No. 1. Breast bone of the Peregrine Falcon. 



a, the sternum ; b, the keel ; 



c, the furcula, d, d, the clavicles ; 



e, scapula broken off. 

 No. 2. Breast bone of a Wood Owl. 



3. Bony ring of a Golden Eagle. 



4. Crystalline lens of the same bird ; 



a, the anterior surface, somewhat less convex than 

 the posterior one. 



5. Bony ring of a Snowy Owl. 



6. Crystalline lens of the same bird ; 



a, the anterior surface, also less convex. 



Nos. 3 and 5. These circles seem admirably adapted to afford 

 support to the soft parts of the globe of the eye ; the orbits in birds 

 being less perfectly defined, generally, than in most otlier animals. 



