302 Mr. F. E. Beddard on Photodilus badius. 



celui des Nyctales et les angles ischiatiques sont peu pro- 

 eminents." There is another feature in the pelvis which 

 seems, besides those mentioned by Milne-Edwards, to be of 

 some importance. This is the pointed extremities of the 

 ilia, which overlap the last ribs ; these are perfectly well 

 figured by Milne-Edwards. 



These conditions are exactly repeated in Striw; but in 

 Ketupa and Syrnium the antero-lateral processes of the 

 innominates are much more blunt and altogether shorter 

 in proportion. 



Visceral Anatomy. 



The viscera, and in fact the soft parts generally, of Photo- 

 dilus do not seem to have been ever studied. 



The following notes may therefore not be without 

 interest : — 



The liver-lobes are unequal in size, the right being rather 

 larger than the left. The liver-lobes are shut off by a 

 delicate membrane from the subomental space, which appears 

 to be formed by a fusion between the umbilical ligament and 

 the oblique septa. I just mention this arrangement without 

 for the present going any further into the matter, because 

 the character appears to be one of classificatory importance. 



I find, in fact, that in the Barn Owl there is no septum 

 cutting off the liver in the way that has been described j but 

 in Asio otus I find such an arrangement repeated. 



The caeca of Photodilus (fig. 5, p. 303) are, as in other 

 Owls, swollen at their extremities; it seemed to me as if 

 this swelling was more marked in Photodilus than in some 

 other types of Owls. 



The gall-bladder is large, and its duct enters the small 

 intestines just at the top of the loop in front of the opening 

 of the hepatic duct, which is itself considerably above the two 

 pancreatic ducts ; these latter are side by side, and placed 

 about halfway up the distal side of the duodenal loop. 



The syrinx is not very distinctive of the affinities of the 

 bird. The last three tracheal and the first two bronchial 

 rings are ossified ; the intrinsic muscles, which are not 



