ALUCONIBjE : BARN OWLS. 



501 



160. 



be caUed AhiconicUv, instead of SfrigidtB ; which latter name is to be applied to the succeeding 



family. 



ALU'CO. (Ital. aZoc^to, some kind of owl. Figs. 47, 3.51.) Barn Owls. To above characters 

 add : Wings very long, pointed, folding beyond the tail, the 1st or 2d primary longest, and none 

 emarginate. TaU short, nearly even or emarginate, about \ as long as the wing. Tarsus nearly 

 twice as long as middle toe without claw, closely feathered, the plumage becoming scant and 



Fig. 351. — Barn Owls, I iiat. «/. 



" From yonder ivy-mantleJ tower. 

 The moping owl does to the moon complain 

 Of such, as wand'ring near her secret bower. 

 Molest her ancient solitary reign." — Gray. 



bristly below, like that on the nearly naked toes, and reversed in direction on the posterior 

 aspect; claws extremely long and ^cute (see fig. 47). Bill lengthened, compressed, the cere 

 nearly as long as the rest of the culmen ; nostrils oval : no plumicoms ; eyes comparatively 

 small, black ; biU light-colored; plumage flagrant, not dichromatic ; size medium. One North 

 Am. species. 



