ASio. 257 



/*. Tarsus loBger than middle toe, scantily haired; tail less 

 than half as long as wing, even. 



Micrathene. (Page 266.) 



b''. Tarsus more than twice as long as middle toe, and about half as long as tail, 



(Wing 6.15-7.50) Speotyto. (Page 265.) 



G-ENUS ASIO Brisson. (Page 256, pi. LXXIV., figs. 2, 3.) 



Species. 



Ear-tufts very conspicuous ; upper parts finely mottled or vermiculated with 

 dusky, bufty, and grayish white, the first predominating ; lower parts buffj', 

 overlaid, more or less continuously, Avith whitish, and marked with ragged, 

 or " herring-bone," strijDes of dusky. (Subgenus Asio.) 

 5\ Ends of all the quills normal ; toes feathered ; face ochraceous. 



c^ Dusky of upper parts disposed in broad stripes, contrasting more or less 

 conspicuously with the paler ground-color; lower parts ochraceous, 

 conspicuously striped, but not distinctly barred, with dusky. (Size 

 of A. wilsonianus.) Hah. Northern parts of eastern hemisphere. 



A. otus (Linn.). Long-eared Owl.^ 

 &. Dusk}" of upper parts in form of confused mottling, not contrasting con- 

 spicuously with the paler ground-color ; lower parts whitish (ochra- 

 ceous beneath surface), marked with irregular dusky bars which are 

 much broader than the mesial streaks with which they are conflu- 

 ent ; length 13.00-16.00, wing 11.50-12.00, tail 6.00-6.20, culmen .65, 

 tarsus 1.20-1.25. Nest, usually the deserted one of a crow, heron, 

 magpie, or other bird of similar size. Eggs 3-6, 1.66 X 1-28, ovate 

 or ovoid. Hah. Whole of temperate North America, south to table- 

 lands of Mexico. 



366. A. wilsonianus (Less.). American Longc-eared Owl. 

 61 Ends of longer quills narrow, that of the first almost falcate ; toes naked ; 

 face dusky or with dull grayish prevailing. 



Above dusky, slightly broken by sparse mottling of yellowish white ; 

 lower parts grayish white, coarsely barred and irregularly striped 

 with dusky; wing about 13.00, tail 6.80, culmen .90, tarsus 1.55. 

 Hah. Eastern tropical America, north to eastern Mexico and Cuba. 



A. stygius Wagl. Stygian Owl.^ 

 Ear-tufts rudimentary ; color (above and below) ochraceous or buffy whitish, 

 striped, but not barred, with dark brown. (Subgenus Brachyotus Gould.) 

 Adult : Ground-color varying (individually) from bright tawny ochraceous 

 to buffy white, this relieved by conspicuous stripes of dark bi-own, those 

 of the lower parts growing gradually narrower posteriorly, and dis- 

 appearing altogether on legs and lower tail-coverts ; wings irregularly 



1 Strix otus Linn., S. N. ed. 10, i. 1758, 92. Asia otus Less., Man. d'Orn. i. 1828, 116. 

 ' Nyctalops stygiua Wagl., Isis, 1832, 1221. Aaio atygiua Strickl., Orn. Syn. i. 1865, 207. 



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