1900. ] SHUFELDT—OSTEOLOGY OF THE STRIGES. 705 
angle with the shaft of the second metacarpal, its extremity being 
directed upward. At its base, close to the shaft of mid-metacarpal, 
it bears a uniform facette for articulation with the thumb, a free, 
three-sided, pointed little bone, about nine millimetres in lengths 
The second metacarpal is straight ; its enlarged proximal extremity is 
formed chiefly by the confluent os magnum ; its shaft is inclined to 
be subtrihedral, with its broadest face looking forward ; its distal 
extremity is terminated by a knot-shaped enlargement, that is still 
further enhanced by the confluence with the third metacarpal. It 
bears a digit composed of two phalanges, the proximal one bearing 
on its posterior border, for nearly its entire length, a quadrangular 
expansion that has a raised margin, leaving a single concavity 
radiad ; a similar concavity occurs on the ulnar side, but is there 
divided by a ridge sloping downward into two shallow depressions. 
This little bone somewhat reminds one of a cleaver, with the end of 
its handle attached to the metacarpus. It supports at its distal ex- 
tremity the second phalanx of this digit, a bone having very much 
the same appearance and shape as the index digit, only being longer 
and more pointed. The proximal ends of all the phalangeal seg- 
ments are more or less expanded, in order to support the ample facets 
of articulation that occur among them and the metacarpus. The 
third metacarpal is expanded transversely above, slender below, 
where it falls a little beyond the medius after its confluence with it. 
It also has a small pointed phalanx, freely attached to its distal ex- 
tremity, and lying in that recess formed by the shaft and posterior 
expansion of the first phalanx of the second digit. At a very early 
date, comparatively, in the life of this Owl, ossification is normally 
extended to many of the tendons of important muscles of the anti- 
brachium and pinion. 
Of the Pelvic Limb.—The lower extremity is composed of twenty 
distinct segments, including the patella, or just double the number 
found in the pectoral limb. This increase will not surprise us 
when we recollect the greater number of small bones devoted to the 
foot above those found in the hand. Its most striking feature, next 
to those osteological characteristics common to the family, is its 
extreme length, due principally to the tibia and tarso-metatarsus. 
All the bones of the lower limb in this species are non-pneumatic. 
The femur is comparatively of good size and strong ; articulated in 
the usual manner, it measures four centimetres in length and seven 
millimetres across the condyles at their widest part. At the proxi- 
