3.4 ME. W. P. PYCEAFT ON THE 



palatines, x^'hicli effectually prevent the latter from meeting one another in the middle 

 line, the space between them being equal to the width of the parasphenoidal rostrum. 

 This peculiar feature aj)pears to be found only among the Owls. 



In Fhotodilus the vomer is extremely reduced, most nearly resembling that of Ketupa. 

 In this respect Photodilus differs conspicuously from the Strigidse. 



In Strix the vomer, seen from below, apjiears as a fusiform body, highly pneumatic 

 and of extreme delicacy, the siirface being converted into a delicate filagree work. Its 

 pointed end runs forward for some considerable distance between the maxillo-j)alatine 

 processes. Seen from above, the vomer presents the appearance of the bow-end of a 

 canoe, the sides of Avhich are kept apart by a most delicate lattice-work of bone. 

 Posteriorly, the vomer fuses with the quadrato- palatine plate described below. 



The palatines take the form of flattened rods, in the Asionidse and Photodilidae having 

 a strong outward curve. In the larger skulls the mesial borders of the posterior ends — 

 on either side of the vomer — send down a sharp keel. In Sitrnia the palatines ai"e 

 relatively very short and broad. 



In the Strigidse the joaiatines are straighter and relatively longer than in the Bubonidae, 

 and, moreover, they are not separated one from another as in the Bubonidae. 



The separation of the palatines in the Asionidse one from another by the development 

 of lateral sjiurs is an extremely interesting feature, and becomes still more so when 

 contrasted with the conditions which obtain in the Strigidae. Here the palatines, viewed 

 from above, appear to have fused one with another, posteriorly, and with the vomer, 

 presenting, in front of the pterygoid articulation, a broad quadrate wall sloping upwards 

 and forwards, and having a doubly notched free dorsal border. 



The pterygoids are long, and, near the middle, send inwards a thick spur to articulate 

 with the basipterygoid processes. In some forms they are nearly straight, e. g. Bubo, 

 Scops ; in others they are sigmoidally curved, e. (j. Suruia, Strix. In all they are blade- 

 like rather than rod-shaped. They are sharply truncated anteriorlj% and articulated with 

 the extreme postero-external angle of the palatine. Proximally they articulate with the 

 shaft of the quadrate, the articular end in some sj)ecies expanding to encroach upon 

 the orbital process, e. g. Ninox. 



It is interesting to note that the angle formed by the pterygoids with the long axis of 

 the skull is a much wider one in the Striges than in the Falconiformes. This appears to 

 be due to the very decided antero-posterior shortening of the skull, brought about by the 

 reduction of the interorbital region. The shortening is even more marked in the para- 

 sphenoidal rostrum, which hiBubo, for example, is extremely reduced. As a consequence 

 of this abbreviation, the posterior ends of the palatines lie relatively much further back 

 than in the Palconiformes. This same shoi'tening, as we have elsewhere pointed out, lias 

 also brought the antorbital plate almost directly over the ptery go-palatine articulation. 



In the great length of the pterygoids the Striges resemble the Caprimulgi more nearly 

 than the Falconiformes, the orbital process and squamosal head being subequal in 

 length. 



• The quadrate is Falconiform in its general shape. It differs from that of the Falconi- 

 formes chiefly in the greater length and distinctness of the otic process, and in the more 



