STPJGID.E — THE OWLS. 



89 



nakeil behind ; toes scantily haired. Tail short, less than half the winj', nearly even, or 

 very slijjhtl)' rounded. Three outer quills with their inner webs emarginated; second 

 to fourth longest. Ear-conch very small, simple, roundish. Diurnal and terrestrial. 



Tiiis geinis i.s peculiar to America, wliere it is distributed over the whole 

 of tlie southern and the western half of the northern continent, as well as 

 in some of the West India Islands. There appears to be but one well- 

 characterized species,^ this one modified into representative races in the 

 several geographical provinces over which it ranges. The species is terres- 

 trial, inhabiting the abandoned burrows of Armadillos and Eodents. It is 



Speotifto /njpogfPa* 



diurnal, possessing as much freedom of sight, hearing, and motion in the 

 brightest sunlight, as any species of the Fdlconidcc. 



Species and Races. 



S. cunicularia. Colors umber-brown and ochi'aceous-white, the former 

 prcdouiinating above, the latter prevailing below. Upper parts spotted with 

 whitish ; lower parts transversely barred with brown on the breast and 

 sides, and sometimes on the abdomen. A white gular patch, and jugular 

 collar, with a brown band between them. Legs, crissum, anal and femoral 

 regions, always immaculate. 



A. Primaries with broad regular bars of ochraceous-white on both 

 webs ; primary coverts with large spots of the same. 



Brown markings of the lower parts irregulai-ly transverse, and 

 ragged. White spots on the upper parts nearly equal in extent to 

 tlie bi'own. 



Wing, 0.15-0.40; tail, 2.90- 3.00; culmen, ..58-.G2 ; tarsus. 

 1.50-1.80; middle toe, .05. Hah. Peru . . vav. yraHaria.' 



1 Gray, in his " Hand List," gives in addition S. fusca, Vieill., a West Indian I" Antilles ") 

 species, which proves to be not congeneric with S. cunicnhiria, and also S. clomingcnsis (Gm.) 

 MiJLL., which 1 cannot identify as one of the races of S. cunicularia, 



'^ SjKuUjto cunicularin, var. grallarial ? Slrix grallaria, Spix, Av. Braz. I, 21, IS24. • — 

 ? Tem. pi. Col. 146. I am by no means satisfied that this form is the true grallaria, but it 

 seems to come nearer to it than any other described. Three specimens (two from Peru, in the 

 National Museum, and one, without label, in the Museum of the Boston Society of Natural 

 History) have been examined, and agree in the characters diagnosed above. 



VOL. in. 12 



