74' Dr. A, Hall on the Mammals and Birds 



D.c. This is one of our most common owls, but unfortunately 

 at the time of writing, I cannot lay my hands on a specimen. 

 The following is from Nuttall : " Ear-like tufts inconspicuous, of 

 2 or 3 very short feathers ; general colour, ochreous, spotted with 

 blackish brown ; face round the eyes blackish ; tail without 5 

 bands, not extending beyond the tips of the wings ; female with 

 the general tints paler. In the young the face is blackish. Length 

 13 to 15 inches. Head of old bird small ; tail ochreous, with small 

 bands, and tipped with white ; beneath Isabella yellow, with 

 longitudinal spots of blackish brown ; bill black ; feet and toes 

 feathered : iris of a bright yellow." 



2nd Subdivision. 



Heads without ears. 



S. nehulosa. Barred owl. 



Syrnium nehulosum. Gray ! Baird. 



v.s.p. ET V. Upper mandible yellow ; lower one blueish black, 

 except where it closes against the upper one; claws blueish black. 

 Eggs 4 to 5, white ; irides deep blue, verging to black. 



Dorsal aspect. Facial disk in front of the orbits black, bounded 

 by greyish white ; all the other parts brownish grey, posteriorly 

 barred and tipped with brown. A line of brown feathers, tipped 

 and barred with white, bounds the facial disk and meets on the 

 throat. Head, neck, back, rump, tail, scapulars, coverts, prim- 

 aries and secondaries, liver brown, barred with white, which 

 has a yellow tinge. These bars are most numerous on the neck, 

 and most distinct on the back ; those of the wings and tail have a 

 brownish tinge, about 5 in number on the latter, and tipped with 

 the same colour, and 5 or 6 on the wings composed of spots 

 which are darker on the outer vanes. 



Vental aspect. Chin brown ; neck below the brown line con- 

 tinued from the facial disk, white, succeeded by white barred with 

 liver brown. A single bar occurs on each feather, which is also 

 tipped with the same. The bars change to streaks on the breast 

 and belly ; vent and tail coverts and wing coverts yellowish white, 

 the second and last with narrow, brown specks ; tail slate colour, 

 with 5 bars; wings same, barred; femorals and tarsals short, yellow- 

 ish white, with a faint barring ; toes feathered to the last joint. 



Claws long, not much curved but very sharp ; claw of the mid- 

 dle toe longest, with a salient sharp inner ridge ; hind toe com- 

 pressed ; 4th and 5th primaries equal, if anything 5th longest ; 



