US 



STRIGIN^. OWLS. P. 324. 



" 'Tis the middle of night by the castle clock, 

 And the owls have wakened the crowing cock ; 

 Tu-whit ! — Tu-whoo ! " 



The reader may here supply a chapter on supersti- 

 tions, which the author forgot. 



It is remarkable that the hen-harrier, although it ex- 

 hibits so great an affinity to the owls in the size and 

 form of its ear, as well as in having a ruif of feathers, 

 yet differs in the structure of its intestinal canal, at 

 least as much as any other falconine bird, the upper 

 dilatation of the oesophagus being extremely large, 

 whereas in the owls it is altogether wanting, and the 

 cceca being entirely different in form. This affords an 

 illustration of what I have stated at page 8. 



SYRNIA NYCTEA. SNOWY OWL. P. 348, 



Having lately inspected a bird of this species belong- 

 ing to Dr Neill, I judge it proper to add a few parti- 

 culars respecting it. 



In its general aspect, the snowy owl resembles the 

 great eagle owl, or the tawny owl. Its head and neck 

 are proportionally as thick as those of the latter bird, 

 the former measuring six inches across at the level of 

 the eyes. The upper eyelid projects considerably, but 

 there is no superciliary ridge, and the face is much flat- 

 tened. The space between the eyes is about equal to 



