72 MR. F. E. BEDDARD ON THE 



in no way permanent structures, but could be readily pulled out 

 straight. In Btiho virginianus the greater part of the jejunum 

 lies in the same way in loose movable coils ; but there is a hint 

 of a fixed loop — wide and shallow — at the commencement of the 

 jejunum. Bubo capensis (I have seen two examples) and 

 B. maximios were quite like B. maculosus and B. cinerascens, a 

 slight and quite unfixed spiral being particularly noticeable in the 

 case of the first-mentioned species. 



I quite agree with Dr. Mitchell that Strix flammea has a 

 jejunum which may be regarded as archicentric. I cannot, 

 however, understand why Dr. Mitchell should emphasise the 

 archaic character of the gut of this Owl by terming it "remark- 

 ably archicentric " and by figuring a state of afiairs * which is not 

 at all archicentric. For, in his figure of Strix flammea, there is 

 correctly represented a well-marked " supraduodenal fold " — or 

 ileic loop, as I prefer to call it — and a definite loop in the jejunal 

 region. The latter I did not find in that species of Strix ; but I 

 am not at all disposed to dispute the accuracy of Dr. Mitchell's 

 figure. For in Strix perlataf the jejunal fold is disposed in 

 three more or less equisized and not very close loops ; but still 

 they appear to be definite loops, and the jejunum is not merely 

 a loose coil as in Bubo. This species is therefore not at all 

 archicentric. 



The conditions seen in Strix perlata seem to me to be a slight 

 exaggera,tion of those which I noticed in Strix punctatissima. 

 In the latter Owl the jejunum is formed by a tube which lies 

 in the undisturbed intestine as a spiral. It can be smoothed 

 out without tearing any mesenteric connections into the not 

 circular but rather W-shaped coil so characteristic of Passerine 

 and many Picarian birds ; the rest of the small intestine is of 

 less calibre and becomes suddenly so ; it again lies in the body 

 in a spiral fashion, but can be smoothed out in the same way 

 into a broad but rather irregular ileic loop. The ligamentum ileo- 

 duodenale extends nearly to the end of this and is attached to 

 about halfway down the duodenal loop. The pancreas extends 

 for rather more than halfway down the duodenal loop. The 

 gut of this genus is considerably shorter than in, for instance, 

 Bubo, and is to be contrasted by its stiffness with the lower coils 

 of the latter. 



Athene noctua, being a small species, might be expected to show 

 those diflferences from other Owls which are often met with in 

 comparing small species with larger allies. As a matter of fact, 

 the jejunal region of the gut is comparatively short and shows 

 no trace of any fixed loop such as occurs in some other Owls. 

 In this species the pancreas extends to the very end of the 

 duodenal loop; in a species of Ciccaba, in Strix flammea. Asia 

 otus^ Ninox hoobook, Bubo macidostcs, B. cinerascens^ B. virgini- 

 anvjS, and some other Owls, the pancreas does not extend so far 



* Trans. Linn. Soc. t. c. fig-. 66, p. 21.8. 



t It is not cpi'tiiiu how far tlu'Sf alleged species of 8trLv have that value. 



