668 SHUFELDT—OSTEOLOGY OF THE STRIGES. [Dec. 7, 
‘‘ Burrowing Owls,’’ of the genus Sfeoty/o, of which there are two 
varieties. Finally, in the Western and Southwestern regions we 
meet with the highly interesting little Pygmy and Elf Owls—two 
of the genus G/aucidium and the still more diminutive Elf, AZcro- 
pallas whitneyt. , 
The Striges constitute a very cosmopolitan group of birds, and a 
wonderfully monomorphic one, there being hardly an aberrant form 
in the entire suborder the world over. But even at the present 
writing the classification of these birds is in a condition anything 
but satisfactory, and in-times not long gone by the nomenclature of 
Owls was something quite past comprehension and utterly confusing. 
Presently I shall quote some authorities in these matters when I 
come to say a few words upon the Owls in general, but right here, 
be it said, that beyond that the present memoir will have but little 
to do with the unraveling of this perplexing taxonomy and nomen- 
clature. For the purpose of designating species and genera, I here 
adopt the arrangement set forth in the Check List of the American 
Ornithologists’ Union—the last edition. Huxley, in his celebrated 
paper, published in the Proceedings of the Zodlogical Society of 
London in 1867, says that his Actomorphez is a division which is 
equivalent 
‘‘to the ‘ Raptores’ of Cuvier—an eminently natural assemblage, and yet 
one the members of which, as the preceding enumeration of their charac- 
ter shows, vary in most important particulars. 
‘“They appear to me to fall naturally into four well-defined primary 
groups—the S/rigide, the Cuthartide, the Gypetide and the Gypoger- 
anide. Butthis arrangement is so different from that ordinarily adopted, 
that I shall proceed to justify it by enumerating the principal circum- 
stances in which the members of the several divisions agree with one 
another and differ from the rest.”’ 
This is first followed by a fairly complete résumé of the osteo- 
logical and other characters of the Owls, but as many important 
skeletal characters have, since that paper was published, been de- 
scribed by ornithotomists, we will omit here Prof. Huxley’s synopsis 
in these matters, and present the fuller and more recent remarks of 
Prof. Newton and others in the premises. 
In his admirable article ‘‘ Ornithology’’ in the Ninth Edition of 
the Lncyclopedia Britannica (v. xviii, p. 47), Prof. Newton says that 
“It has so long been the custom to place the Owls next to the diurnal 
Birds-of-Prey that any attempt to remove them from that position cannot 
