450 



ASIO. TUFTED-OWL. 



Although furnished with tufts of feathers on the head, the 

 birds of this genus are distinguished from those on which the 

 generic appellation of Bubo has been bestowed, by the enor- 

 mous size of their auditory concha, more elongated wings, and 

 other peculiarities. 



Bill short, moderately strong, compressed toward the end : 

 upper mandible with the dorsal line decurved from the base, 

 at first slightly, the ridge broad on the cere, which is large, 

 narrowed anteriorly, convex in its whole length, the sides con- 

 vex toward the end, the edges soft as far as the nostrils, then 

 sharp, direct, and decurved, the tip acute and descending 

 obliquely ; lower mandible with the crura narrow, the angle 

 wide, the dorsal outline very short, slightly convex, the back 

 and sides rounded, the edges toward the end sharj), inflected, 

 decurved, with a slight sinus on each side close to the oblique- 

 ly truncate tip. 



Mouth very wide ; palate prominent, sloping upwards at the 

 sides, with two lateral soft ridges, and an anterior elevated cen- 

 tral line running to the mandible ; posterior aperture of the 

 nares narrowly elliptical, with an anterior fissure. Tongue 

 short, narrow, fleshy, oblong, deeply emarginate and papillate 

 at the base, its upper surface with a median groove, its tip 

 thin, and emarginate. (Esophagus very wide, of nearly equal 

 diameter throughout ; proventricular glandules small and cylin- 

 drical. Stomach large, roundish, its muscular coat very thin, 

 being composed of a single series of distinct fasciculi, the cen- 

 tral tendons thin and roundish ; the epithelium thin, soft, and 

 somewhat rugous. Pylorus closed by a thin margin. Intes- 

 tine of moderate length and width ; coeca of considerable 

 length, oblong, contracted toward the base ; rectum dilated 

 into a very large oblong cloaca. 



