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SYRNIA. DAY-OWL. 



Commencing the series of Owls with those which in their 

 structure and habits seem to approach nearest to the Falcons 

 and Hawks, we find the Snowy Owl, in the comparative small- 

 ness of its auricular conch, general form, and diurnal habits, 

 the first in order of our British species. The Hawk-Owl, and 

 several other species, agree with it in presenting the following 

 generic characters. 



Bill short, strong, compressed toward the end : upper man- 

 dible with the cere short, the dorsal outline decurved from the 

 base, the ridge broad and convex, the sides convex toward the 

 end, the tip trigonal, acute, decurved so as to be nearly perpen- 

 dicular ; lower mandible straight, with the crura short, the 

 angle wide and rounded, the dorsal line short and convex, the 

 edges toward the end sharp, inflected, and decurved, with a 

 shallow sinus on each side close to the rounded tip. 



Mouth very wide ; palate flat, sloping a little upwards at the 

 sides, with two longitudinal ridges, and entirely covered with 

 minute papillce ; a prominent ridge toward the mandible. Pos- 

 terior aperture of the nares broadly elliptical, with an anterior 

 slit. Tongue short, deeply sagittate and papillate at the base, 

 nearly flat above with a median groove, its sides nearly parallel, 

 the tip narrowed, rounded, and slightly emarginate. CEsophagus 

 wide, without dilatation. Stomach large, roundish ; its mus- 

 cular coat very thin, being composed of a single series of fasci- 

 culi ; the epithelium thick, moderately tough, and rugous. 

 Pylorus very small, with two prominences ; intestine of mode- 

 rate length, rather wide ; coeca large, oblong, narrowed at the 

 base ; cloacal dilatation globular and very large. 



Nostrils ovate, oblique, in the fore part of the cere, which is 

 generally tumid behind them. Eyes very large ; eyelids with 

 broad thin crenate margins, but without distinct cilise. Conch 



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