28 



NORTH AMERICAN I3IRDS. 



Genus SYRNIUM, Swigxy. 



Si/rnium, Savigs"!', Nat. Hist. Kgypt, I, 112; 1S09. (Type, Strix aluco, L.) 

 Scotiaptcx, Swains., Classic. 15. II, 1837, p. 216. (Tj-pe, Strix cinerm, Gmel.) 

 ? Ciccaba, Wagl. Isis, 1831. (Type, Slrix huhula, Daud.) 

 tPulsatrU, Kaui', 1849. (Slrix torqualus, Daud.) 



Gen. Char. Size varying from medium to very large. No car-tufts. Head very large, 



the eyes comparatively 

 small. Four to six outer 

 primaries with tlieir inner 

 webs sinuated. Tarsi and 

 upper portion, or tlic whole 

 of the toes, densely clothed 

 with hair-like feathers. 

 Tail considerably more 

 than half as long as the 

 wing, decidedly rounded. 

 Ear-orifice very high, but 

 not so high as the skull, 

 and furnished with an an- 

 full length ; the two cars 



Syrnium ncbulostttn. 



terior operculum, which docs not usually extend along the 

 asymmetrical. Bill yellow. 



Subgenera. 



Scotiaptex. Six outer quills with their inner webs emarginated. Toes completely 

 concealed by dense long hair-like feathers. Iris yellow. (Type, S. cinereum.) 



Syrnium, Swaissos. Five outer quills with their inner webs emarginated. Toes not 

 completely concealed by feathers ; sometimes nearly naked ; terminal scutella; always (?) 

 exposed. Iris blackish. (Type, S. aluco.) 



The typical species of this geuus are confined to tlie Xortliern Ileiui- 

 spliere. It is yet doubtful whether 

 the Tropical American species 

 usually referred to this genus 

 really belong here. The genera 

 Ciccaba, Wagl., and Pulsatrix., 

 Kaup, have been instituted to in- 

 clude most of tliem ; but whether 

 these are generically or only sub- 

 generically distinct from the 

 typical species of Syrnium re- 

 mains to be decided. 



Our S. ncbulosum and S. occi- 

 dentalc seem to be strictly con- 

 generic with the S. aluca, the 

 type of the subgenus Syrnium, since they agree in the minutest particulars 

 in regard to their external form, and ntlier characters not specific. 



Syrnium nrbtitosum. 



