16. SYRNIUM. 253 



p. 25G ; Cass. B. N. Am. p. 50 ; Gray, Hancl-l. B. i. p. 48 ; Ball 

 Sf Batm. Tr. Chicago Acad. i. p. 273 ; Cooper, B. Calif, ed. Baird, 

 p. 4'i3 ; Mai/nard, JSfat. Guide, p. 130 ; Ridi/io. N.-Atn. B. iii. p. 30 ; 

 Cones, B. N. W. p. 307. 



Scotiaptex cinerea, Swains. Classif. B. ii. p. 217. 



Ulula cinerea, Bp. Consp. i. p. 53. 



Syruiuiu lapponicum, var. cinereuin, Coues, Key N.-Am. B. p. 204. 



Adidt. General colour above dusky greyish brown, everywhere 

 mottled with white in the form of zigzag bars and markings, the 

 white on the outer web of the sca2:)iilars more distinct, but not forming 

 a very distinct shoulder-patch ; wing-coverts exactly like the back, 

 and marked with white in the same way ; primary-coverts dark brown, 

 barred across with lighter brown ; primaries dark brown, barred 

 with lighter brown, these pale bars inclining slightly to whitish 

 on the outer webs, the innermost secondaries deep brown, mottled 

 with white in the same manner as the back ; taiJ-feathers brown, 

 darker towards the tip, crossed with about eight feebly indicated 

 greyish white bands, all of which are plentifully mottled with 

 brown ; head and neck greyish brown, mottled with niimerous white 

 bars, not very distinct or continuous ; face dusky cinereous, indi- 

 stinctly banded with dark brown, the feathers immediately over the 

 eye black ; lores and an indistinct eyebrow whitish ; ruff chocolate- 

 brown, very slightly spotted with buffy white, the light markings 

 more distinct on the lower parts of the ruff, particularly on the fea- 

 thers adjoining the sides of the neck ; chin whitish, the riiff-feathers 

 immediately below being brown, with rather broad whitish margins, 

 some of them buffy white, narrowly barred with brown ; rest of 

 under surface greyish brown, mottled with dull white, generally in 

 the form of rather broad bars ; the leg-feathers very dingy brown, 

 mottled with whitish ; sides of body and under wing-coverts rather 

 whiter than the rest of the under surface and more distinctly banded 

 with brown ; the lower series of the greater under wing-coverts 

 brown, barred with yellowish white, thus resembling the inner lining 

 of the wing ; biU yellow ; iris yeUow. Total length 30 inches, wing 

 19, tail 13-5, tarsus 2-35. 



06s. As in the case of the Long-eared Owl, the American and 

 European birds are not exactly alike, but yet approach each other 

 so closely that it is difficult to give exact specific characters. The 

 American bird in the present instance is altogether darker than S. 

 lapponicum both above and below, the central brown streaks to the 

 feathers of the breast being much less distinct in S. cinereum. 

 The best character that I have seen as yet for distinguishing the two 

 is by lifting the wing, when the European species immediately dis- 

 closes a distinct white patch at the base of the primaries, which is 

 absent, or at least scarcely discernible, in the American birds. This 

 is caused by the much broader character of the white bars at the 

 base of the primaries in S. lapponicum — these existing, it is true, in 

 S. cinereum, but much less distinctly and generally clouded over and 

 obscured by greyish-brown mottlings. 



Hah. The northern part of North America, descending rarely to 



