OWLS. 335 



and depicting, tliem, and connecting the habits of the 

 species with their structure. 



Instead of misapplying ingenuity by inspecting skins 

 and comparing descriptions, I have commenced the exa- 

 mination of the birds themselves ; but not having been 

 able to procure a sufficient number of exotic species 

 entire or in spirits, I am induced for the present to ex- 

 tend my generic groups. Those which I propose are 

 six. But as the ear is considered an organ of primary 

 importance in the classification of owls, I shall, in the 

 first place, take the liberty of saying a few words re- 

 specting it. 



In the pheasant, which I select, as a fresh specimen 

 is now lying beside me, and most other birds, the ex- 

 ternal ear is of a roundish form, and of 

 moderate or small size. It presents the 

 appearance of a circular thickened rim 

 covered with skin, slightly elevated above 

 the neighbouring parts, and on its outer edge beset with 

 feathers disposed in a circle, the anterior ones much 

 longer, recurved, and in the ordinary state lying over 

 the aperture of the ear. In the pheasant, the external 

 aperture is two-twelfths and a half in diameter. An 

 irregular cavity exists within this rim, at the bottom 

 of which is a transverse, oblong opening or slit, two- 

 twelfths and a half long, and one-twelfth broad, which 

 is the meatus auditorius externus, analogous to what is 

 vulgarly called the hole of the ear in man. In the 

 pheasant, it is placed at the depth of three-twelfths of 

 an inch, and leads to the membrane of the tympanum, 

 which separates the internal from the external ear. 



