KEEL-BREASTED BIRDS. 



269 



FlG. 301. A group of night-birds owls. 



stout, often enormous bills, the base, as in the hawks, cov- 

 ered by a soft skin. The tongue is short and fleshy, and 

 the beak of the upper jaw is articulated to the skull so 

 that it is free to an unusual extent. They are, as a rule, 



