268 -ME. W. P. PYCRAFT ON THE 



strxicture of the nestling-down and definitive down-feathers, and to my mind this will 

 have greater weight than such points as the absence of an aftersliaft or in the occipitnl 

 tract not being divided up into "narrow longitudinal rows." And it will further 

 outweigh the very slight resemblance whicli may be traced in the pt. ventralis. and over- 

 come what is at present a bar, serving to isolate it from either of the two groups in 

 question — the peculiar form of the lumbar region of the p^. spinalis. Garrod's verdict, 



that " In its pterylosis Steatori/is resembles the Strigidte much * more than any of 



the allied families," is, I think, rather an ovei*-estimation of the facts at present at our 

 disposal. 



With Dr. Gadow's evidence (3) the case for the systematic position of the Owls from 

 the standpoint of pterylosis is closed for the present. 



Only a very little can be gathered on this point, but that little is almost as much as 

 we can expect or hope for. This is set down under three heads : — 



I. Tlie points which the Striges share in common with the Accipitres and the Capri- 

 niulgi. These are : — The thick woolly covering of the nestling; the cervical, dorsal, and 

 ventral apteria ; aquintocubital wing ; nude oil-gland, agreeing in this point, however, 

 with the Cathartce and Caprimulgi, but not with the Accipitres ; and the rudimentaiy 

 ( Caprimulgi) or even absent ( Cathartce and Fandion) aftersliaft. 



II. Characters in which the Striges agree with the Falconiformes, but differ from the 

 Caprimulgi : — such as the presence of a cere in which the nostrils are jilaced ; the 

 arrangement of the dorsal wing-coverts, which resembles that of the FalconidcB ; the 

 presence of 12 rectrices and 11 retniges, though in the last particular they resemble 

 also the Coraciidce. 



III. Points wherein the Striges differ- from the Falcoitiformes but agree with the 

 Caprimulgi or Coraciidce : — They are furnished by the soft dark phimage ; the restriction 

 of the adult down to the apteria ; and the covering of the podotheca. 



The characters reckoned under the first section he regards as of little worth, belonging 

 as much to one group as the other ; whilst those of the second must certainly be allowed 

 to be of more importance than those of the third section ; though it is obvious that both 

 need further combination with other anatomical data, and this is done in Dr. Gadow's 

 work. The result is that he came to the conclusion that the nearest relations of the 

 Sttnges are the Caprimulgi, and especially Fodargns and Steatornis ; then follow the 

 Coracio', and finally the Cuculi. 



I find myself unable to support Dr. GadoAv on two points. The first is that in which he 

 states that the neossoptiles of the Striges more closely resemble those of the Caprimulgi, 

 structurally, than those of the Accipitres ; and the second, wherein he states that the 

 down-feathers of both CaprimMlgi and Striges are confined to the apteria. As is else- 

 where pointed out (p. 257), the down-feathers of the Owls are structurally much more 

 nearly allied to those of the A ccijri ires than to the Ccqmnmlgi; and, lastly, the down- 

 feathers of both Owls and Caprimulgi are confined to ihe pderyla alaris and are absent 

 entirely from the apteria. 'J he downy covering of the nestling Owl, however, resembles 



* Italics nre iiiin<'. 



