EXTERNAL ANATOMY. — EGRETS. 35 
very few examples : they differ from both of the fore- 
going, by consisting of long feathers perfectly naked 
except at their tips, where the webs assume the shape of 
a lance’s head, or the thick extremity of a club or 
hatchet. This imposing ornament seems to he con- 
fined entirely to the gallinaceous order, and is familiarly 
exemphfied in the common peacock : no less beautiful 
IS the splendid crest of the Lophophoruji refalgens, {fig, 
14.) glittering like mimic spears of refulgent gold. There 
IS a modiHcation of tliis crest in some of the small quails, 
where the shafts are not altogether destitute of rays, and 
are recurved towards the head. 
(44.) The last modification of those crests which are 
moveable, is seen in the owls and a few other birds ; 
where, in fact, the crest, from being divided into two 
tnfts, may he called double; and as these tufts are 
placed one on each side, close to the ears {fig. 15.), 
they are usually termed 
egrets. It is highly pro- 
bable that they are given 
to the owls for some spe- 
cific purpose connected 
with a very refined sense 
of hearing, more than for a 
mere ornament, because the 
females possess these egrets 
no less than the males ; and 
even when these birds are 
’^ost, these egrets are more or less erect, as if to assist 
the ear in catching the slightest noise. In their shape, 
00 less than in their position, the egrets of the owls are 
D 2 
