OWLS. 389 



compressed toward the eud ; the upper mandible with its dorsal 

 line declinate and decurved, the sides more or less convex, the 

 sharp edges destitute of a prominent lobe, the tip prolonged, 

 tapering, and curved over the extremity of the lower mandible, 

 which has the angle wide, the dorsal outline short and convex, 

 the edges toward the end sharp, somewhat inflected, and de- 

 curved, with a shallow sinus on each side close to the rounded 

 tip. The mouth is very wide ; the palate flattened, sloping 

 upwards at the sides, with two longitudinal papillate ridges, 

 and an anterior median ridge. The posterior aperture of the 

 nares is elliptical or oblong behind, linear before, with the 

 margins generally papillate. The tongue is small, fleshy, nar- 

 row, sagittate and papillate at the base, channelled above, 

 horny beneath, with the tip narrowed and emarginate or bifid. 

 The oesophagus is very wide, of nearly equal calibre through- 

 out, being destitute of the dilatation or crop observed in that 

 of the Falconine and Vulturine birds. It is very thin, encir- 

 cled by very slender muscular fibres, with its inner coat smooth, 

 but, when the muscular is contracted, disposed into longitudi- 

 nal plaits. The proventricular glandules are small, very nu- 

 merous, cylindrical, and form a broad belt. The stomach is 

 always large, roundish, somewhat compressed, with its mus- 

 cular coat thin and composed of a single series of fasciculi, 

 which are somewhat separated from each other, and converge 

 toward two thin circular tendinous spaces ; its inner coat or 

 epithelium thin, soft or somewhat hard, generally smooth, 

 sometimes rugous. The intestine is short, of considerable 

 width or narrow, gradually diminishing to the commencement 

 of the rectum ; where there are two coeca, which are large, 

 narrow at first, but dilating toward the end. The rectum, 

 which is wide, has a very large globular dilatation or cloaca. 

 These parts will be seen in PI. V, which rej^resents the diges- 

 tive organs of the Snowy Owl, and in PI. XXI, of which 

 Figs. 5 and 6 represent those of the Eagle Owl. 



The trachea, PI. XIX, Fig. 9, is generally short, wide, with 

 numerous slender and unossified rings, and a single pair of infe- 

 rior laryngeal muscles. The figure referred to represents the 

 M-indpipe of the Snowy Owl of the natural size : — a, the 



