608 



SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — BAPTORES— STRIGES. 



164. 



and 2d primaries emarginate on inner webs. Above, completely variegated, chiefly in streaks, 

 with fulvous or tawny, and dark brown ; breast much the same, but other under parts paler 



ochrey, usually bleaching on the 

 belly, which is sparsely but sharply 

 streaked (never barred) with dark 

 brown ; feet pale tawny or whitish, 

 usually immaculate ; lining of wings 

 interruptedly whitish. Wing-quills 

 varied, mostly in large pattern, and 

 tail pretty regularly barred (about 5 

 bars) with the two colors of the 

 upper parts. Facial area white or 

 nearly so, but with a large black eye- 

 patch ; the disc minutely speckled 

 with fulvous and blackish, bordered 

 with white internally and usually 

 having a blackish patch behind the 

 ear ; radiating feathers of the oper- 

 culum streaked with blackish and 

 fulvous. Iris bright yellow ; bill 

 and claws dusky-bluish ; the naked 

 granular soles yellowish. The ear- 

 opening of this species is extremely 

 large, being two inches or more 

 across the longest way. Length of a 

 $ 14.50; extent 41.00; wing 12.00; 

 tail 6.00; tarsus to end of middle 

 claw 3.50; chord of culmen, cerc^ 

 included, 1.12 ; 9 averaging larger 

 than (J. Inhabits N. Am. at large, 

 and most other parts of the world. It appears to be somewhat migratory with us, and is 

 sometimes seen in considerable flocks, especially in marshy places, which are its favorite 

 hunting-grounds for the small quadrupeds and other animals upon which it preys. It is a 

 great destroyer of shrews and field-mice, deserving on this account to be protected in the 

 interests of agriculture. The nest is commonly built on the ground, sometimes in an under- 

 ground burrow, consisting of a little hay and feathers ; the eggs are 4-7 in number, dull white, 

 roundish, about 1.55 X 1-25. This owl breeds iudiflerently in any latitude, and is one of those 

 frequently abroad in the daj'time. 



STKIX. (Gr. (rrpiy^, strigx, Lat. strix, a screech-owl.) Gray Owls. Brow^n Owls. 

 Wood Owls. Skull and ear-parts more or less unsymmetrical, the latter large, furnished 

 with a moderate operculum scarcely reaching the whole length of the opening. Head very 

 large, appearing as broad as the body, and perfectly smooth, there being no plumicorns : facial 

 disc complete and of great extent, the comparatively small eyes centric in the radiating feathers. 

 Nostril in edge of cere, which is shorter than rest of culmen. Bill yellow ; iris yellow or 

 black. Tail very long, f to f as long as the wings. Wings much rounded ; 4 to 6 primaries 

 sinuate on inner webs ; 1st quite short. Feathering of feet variable ; tarsus always feathered, 

 but toes wholly or partly feathered, or naked. A large genus of ' earless ' owls, chiefly of the 

 northern hemisphere, of medium to very largest size. North America has at least three per- 

 fectly distinct species ; the commonest one of these, S. tiebulosa, represents the European 

 tawny owl, S. aluco. 



Fig. 355. — Short-eared Owl, reduced. (Sheppard del. Nichols sc.) 



