388 



STRIGIN^. 



OWLS. 



The Common Barn Owl of Europe has generally been taken 

 as the type of the great family of nocturnal rapacious birds, 

 and it no doubt possesses in an eminent degree the faculties 

 and peculiarities of organization which characterize the Owls, 

 although many species exhibit them in equal perfection. It 

 has also been made the type of the genus Strix, from which 

 accordingly the name of the family is derived. The Wood 

 Owl and the Long-eared Owl appear to me to have better 

 claims to the chieftainship ; but as it is clearly impossible to 

 determine such a question, we may rest contented with an ap- 

 proximation to the truth. 



Although the Harriers and Buzzards already described mani- 

 fest a considerable affinity to some of the Owls, yet the Fal- 

 coninae are separated from the Striginas by a wide interval, 

 insomuch that an Owl can never be mistaken for a Hawk, by 

 any person who has paid the least attention to birds. The 

 Striginaj are distinguished by their extremely large feathered 

 head, short and apparently very thick neck, moderately full 

 body, long, broad, and rounded wings, short tail, full and 

 peculiarly soft or downy plumage, feathered tarsi, versatile 

 outer toe, and hooked bill and claws. But although they seem 

 thus portly, their bulk is chiefly made up of feathers, for their 

 body is in reality very small, extremely narrow behind, although 

 of considerable breadth before, their neck slender and of mo- 

 derate length. Their head however, whether viewed in its 

 natural state or denuded, is larger than that of any other family 

 of birds, although the brain is of very moderate dimensions. 



The bill is always shorter than the head, furnished with a 

 cere concealed by the feathers, generally stout, wide at the base, 



