425 



BUBO. EAGLE-OWL. 



The Eagle-Owls are perhai^s not generically well distin- 

 guished from those of the genus last described, with which 

 they agree in most particulars, differing however in their large 

 size, short and stout tarsi, and comparatively shorter and more 

 rounded wings. 



Bill short, robust, compressed toward the end ; upper man- 

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

 base, the ridge broad and convex, towards the end narrowed, 

 the sides convex and nearly erect beyond the cere, the tip sub- 

 trigonal, acute, decurved so as to be nearly perpendicular ; 

 lower mandible straight, with the crura short, the angle wide 

 and rounded, the dorsal line short and slightly convex, the 

 edges toward the end sharp and inflected, ultimately decurved, 

 ■with a distinct sinus on each side close to the abrupt tip. 



Mouth very wide ; palate flat, sloping upwards at the sides, 

 with two longitudinal papillate ridges, between which are nu- 

 merous small reversed papillae, and a median ridge toward the 

 mandible. Posterior aperture of the nares short, elliptical, 

 with an anterior slit. Tongue short, oblong, sagittate and 

 papillate at the base, its upper surface with a median longi- 

 tudinal groove, the sides nearly parallel, the tip rounded, and 

 retuse. (Esophagus very wide, without dilatation ; proven- 

 triculus studded with cylindrical glandules, and dilated below. 

 Stomach large, roundish ; its muscular coat very thin, being 

 composed of a single series of fasciculi ; the central tendons 

 small and thin ; the inner surface smooth and soft. Pylorus 

 very small, without valvular prominences. Intestine of mode- 

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

 base ; cloacal dilatation globular and very large. Plate XXI, 

 Fig. 4. 



Nostrils roundish or elliptical, oblique, in the fore part of 



