. Cuvier's animal kingdom : arranged according to its organization. Animals. The Owls {Strix, Linn.),— Which may be divided according to their head-tufts, the size of their ears, the extent of the circle of feathers which surrounds their eyes, and some other characters. Those species which around the eyes have a large complete disk of fringed feathers, itself siurounded by a circle or collar of scaly feathers, and between the two a large opening for the ear (see fig. 80), are more removed in their form and manners from the diurnal Birds of Prey, than those in which the ear is small, oval, and
. Cuvier's animal kingdom : arranged according to its organization. Animals. The Owls {Strix, Linn.),— Which may be divided according to their head-tufts, the size of their ears, the extent of the circle of feathers which surrounds their eyes, and some other characters. Those species which around the eyes have a large complete disk of fringed feathers, itself siurounded by a circle or collar of scaly feathers, and between the two a large opening for the ear (see fig. 80), are more removed in their form and manners from the diurnal Birds of Prey, than those in which the ear is small, oval, and covered by fringed feathers which come from below the eye. Traces of these differences are perceptible even in the skeleton, [though only as regards the degree of stoutness of the :«,theguiiet>o"es (seefigs. 81 and84), there being no gradation or transi- devoid of any .raw; b, the cœca.« ^j^j^ JjjJq jj^g Falcons, either in the skeleton or digestive organs. The following arrangement of the Owls, based on the comparative size of the aperture of the ear, is Uable to the objection of dispersing some nearly allied groups, and approximating others that are less so, which is almost necessarily the result of too exclusive attachment to any single character.] Among the first species, we will distinguish The Hiboux (Oius, Cuv.),— WTiich have two tufts of feathers (vulg. horns) which they can erect at will, and the ear-conch of which (fig. 80), extends in a semicircle from the beak almost to the top of the head, and is furnished anteriorly with a membranous operculum. Their feet are feathered to the toes. Such, in Europe, are The Long-tufted Hibou {Str. ottis, Lin.).—Very widely distri- buted ; it inhabits woods, especially those of fir and other ever- greens, and breeds generally in deserted Crows' nests : and The Short-tufted Hibou (Str. brachyotus, Lin.).—Found almost every where, [if indeed the same species, which there is reason to dou
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