228 



ZOOLOGY. 



nerva an air of consummate wisdom. Owls capture living 

 mice and other small nocturnal animals, ejecting from the 

 mouth a ball of the indigestible portions of their meal. 

 The little burrowing owl of the western plains (Spheotyto 

 cunicularia, var. hypogcea) consorts with the prairie-dogs 

 and rattlesnakes, nesting in the holes 

 when deserted. Their rusty, dull hues 

 assimilate them with the color of the soil 

 they inhabit. Our largest owl is the 

 great gray owl (Syrnium cinereum)', it 

 is nearly f metre (2| feet) in length, and 

 is an inhabitant of Arctic America. A 

 visitor in winter from the Arctic regions 

 is the snowy owl (Nyctea nivea), which 

 is nearly f m., or two feet long. The 

 great horned owl (Bubo Virginianus) is 

 about the same size as the snowy owl, 

 but has two conspicuous ear-tufts, add- 

 ing to its height and its general impres- 

 siveness as a bird of more than ordinary 

 sagacity. 



Order 9. Psittaci (Parrots).— Of more 

 intelligence and gifted with the power 

 of speech are the parrots. The tongue is 

 fig. 2(59. -Skuii of Oe- i ar£ r e so ft, and remarkably mobile, as 



cuius vtrtdisL., show- x ""-b 9 > a- 



tag the asymmetrical the muscles at the base are more dis- 

 position of the horns . . , . , , 

 (cornua unguoe) ami tiuctly developed than m other birds, and 



their extension, , , . ,. -i •,■> 



through the right na- the lower larynx is complicated with 

 of th^cavltycVveTed three pairs of muscles; hence these birds 



by the intermaxillary. are wontlerfu l m j m i c kers of the human 



voice, imitating the laughter or crying of babies, and re- 

 peating brief sentences, while some sing. In proportion to 

 their capacity for talking, parrots command a very high 

 market price. Their toes are in pairs, the bill is cered and 

 very stout, adapted for cracking hard nuts. The wish-bone 

 is sometimes rudimentary, and the sternum entire, not 

 Votched. Parrots are monogamous, like the hawks, and 



