ALIMENTARY TRACT OF CERTAIN BIRDS. 



1 



Striges. — Among the Owls, I have examined Scotopella houvieri, 

 which has not yet been investigated from the present point of 

 view. The duodenal loop is widish and there is no trace of an 

 ileo-duodenal ligament — in fact, the ileic loop lay on the right side 

 of the body. The ileic loop is quite simple and is about as long as 

 the duodenal. The jejunum shows three quite distinct loops ; 

 the fii'st of these, i. e. that immediately following upon the 

 duodenum, is wider than, but of about the same length as, 

 another short loop which immediately follows it. A third loop of 

 greater length has a distinct hint of spiral twisting. In Syrnium 

 ahcco, Asio otus (see text-fig. 22), Strix perlata, JVmox hoohook, 

 Bubo maxinncs, B. virginianus, B. maculosas, B. chierascens, and 

 Strix flammea, the ileic and duodenal loops are connected by a 

 ligament which extends about halfway along the former loop. 

 The diflerence is rather extraordinary in the matter of this 

 ligament between Scotopelia and other genera, and it is, of 

 course, possible that we have to do with an individual variation 

 of Scotopelia houvieri. 



Text-fi"-. 22. 



Intestinal tract of Asio oli 

 Lettering as before. 



The division of the jejunal tract of the small intestine into 

 separate loops is not always well marked. In Babo maculosus, for 

 example, there are no fixed folds whatever between the duodenal 

 and ileic loops; the whole of the jejunal region is like that of 

 the Gallinaceous birds or the Mammalia, and can be passed through 

 the fingers in a straight line without rupturing or even straining 

 the mesentery. The same statement applies to Bubo cinerascens, of 

 which species I have dissected two examples. I noticed here that 

 the undisturbed jejunum lay in slight spiral coils ; but these were 



