228 
ZOOLOGY. 
nerva an air of consummate wisdom. Owls capture living 
mice and other small nocturnal animals, ejecting from the 
mouth a ball of the indigestible portions of their meal. 
The little burrowing owl of the western plains {Spheotyto 
cuiiicularia, var. hypogcea) consorts with the prairie-dogs 
and rattlesnakes, nesting in the holes 
when deserted. Their rusty, dull hues 
assimilate them with the color of the soil 
they inhabit. Our largest owl is the 
great gray owl {Syrnium cinereu7)i); it 
is nearly f metre {2^ feet) in length, and 
is an inhabitant of Arctic America. A 
visitor in winter from the Arctic regions 
is the snowy owl {Nyctea which 
is nearly f m., or two feet long. The 
great horned owl {Bubo Virgmianus) is 
about the same size as the snowy owl, 
but has two conspicuous ear-tufts, add- 
ing to its height and its general impres- 
siveness as a bird of more than ordinary 
sagacity. 
Order 9. Psittaci (Parrots). — Of more 
intelligence and gifted with the power 
of speech are the parrots. The tongue is 
Fig. 5269, 
ciniis vh'idis L., show- 
ing the asymmetrical f>|p 
Skull of (?e- ]apg0^ goft^ and remarkably mobile, as 
r.^ciH^« V, ^^^^ muscles at the base are more dis- 
position of the horns 
{cornua linguce) and tiuctlv devclopcd than in othcr birds, and 
their extension *^ . . , . 
through the right na- the lower larvux IS Complicated with 
sal opening to the end ., . , i ii I'l 
of the cavity covered three pairs 01 musclcs; hence these birds 
by the intermaxillary. i £ i • • i ^ xi i 
are wonderiul mimickers oi the human 
voice, imitating the laughter or crying of babies, and re- 
peating brief sentences, while some sing. In proportion to 
their capacity for talking, parrots command a very high 
market price. Their toes are in pairs, the bill is cored and 
very stout, adapted for cracking hard nuts. The wish-bone 
is sometimes rudimentary, and the sternum entire, not 
notched. Parrots are monogamous, like the hawks, and 
