Fossil Birds in the Marsh Collection of Yale University 47 



toe (Fig. 132) has much the form as we find it in some hawks (Buteo) 

 as well as owls. 



There is also a distal end of a left femur in this lot, with a perfect 

 internal condyle and an imperfect external one, though the latter 

 shows the "notch" for the head of the fibula to articulate in. 



There is apparently more owl than eagle here (Fig. 136), and this 

 is certainly the case with respect to the distal end of the left tibio- 

 tarsus (Fig. 131); for in the present instance, although the fragment 

 is quite imperfect in some respects (chipped), it still shows, beyond 

 all doubt, that the "tendinal osseous bridge," over the very shallow 

 groove for the tendons in the anterior aspect below, is absent, as is the 

 case in all owls known to me, while it is invariably present in the 

 eagles. Instead of being markedly concaved in that locality (as well 

 as to a lesser extent posteriorly), it is perfectly _^c/ anteriorly, and 

 only very slightly concaved behind. To some extent, this flatness 

 may be due to pressure, as this, the lower end of the shaft, is much 

 flattened antero-posteriorly. However, the form of the condyle 

 present has not been materially altered. 



The rest of the fossil fragments in this lot are pieces of other bones 

 of the skeleton of Minerva a}}iiqua; and while they are interesting and 

 sustain what has been set forth above, they do not, however, demand 

 detailed description. 



Cat. No. 879 (PI. XV, Fig. 152, a and b), Peabody Museum, Yale University. 

 Upper White River, Wyoming. ? Oligocene. S. Smith, collector. 



This lot contains, with other material, an ungual osseous (fossil) 

 phalanx of Minerva antiqua that, although somewhat smaller than the 

 one figured in Figure 154 (j, e\idently belonged to this species, and 

 probably was the osseous claw of the middle anterior toe. Associated 

 with it is a part of a phalanx of some mammal and a small fossil 

 phalangeal joint from some bird, which it is quite impossible to deter- 

 mine. 



Cat. No. 843 (PI. XV, Fig. 149), Peabody Museum, Yale University. Dry 

 Creek, Wyoming. Eocene (Bridger). LaMothe and Chew, collectors. 



This is an almost perfect specimen of a fossil ungual phalanx of 

 the extinct owl, Minerva antiqua, now being considered. Its extreme 

 apex is broken oft", and it is otherwise somewhat imperfect. There is 

 no way of determining, so far as I can see, whether this claw belonged 

 to the right or left foot. It is not as large as some of the other 

 specimens of this bone, and so may have, in life, belonged to a male bird. 



