TOO AT. I. EN 3 NATURALISTS LIBRARY. 



THE WOOD-OWLS. GENUS SVRNIUM. 



Syniiiiui, Savign. Descr. de TEgypte, p. 208 (1809). 



Type, S. aluco (L.). 



Although the Wood-Owls have the same curious ear-conch 



as the Horned Owls, they may easily be distingushed froui 



the latter by the absence of ear-tufts, and by the cere being 



shorter than the culmen. The bony shell of the ear-conch 



is similar in form on either side of the skull, both sides of 



which are symmetrical, whereas in Nyctala {vide infra, p. 103) 



the opposite is the case. 



The Wood-Owls are found all over the New World from 

 north to south, and also over the greater part of the Old 

 World, with the exception of the Australian Region. 



I. THE WOOD-OWL, OR TAWNY OWL. SYRNIUM ALUCO. 



Strix ahico, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 132 (1766); Newton, ed. 



Yarr. Br. B. i. p. 146 (1872). 

 Uliila al...>, Macg. Br. B. iii. p. 438(1840); Seeb. Br. B. i. 



p. 154 (1883). 

 Syrniiim aiiico, Sharpa, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. ii. p. 247 (1875); 

 Dresser, B. Eur. v. p. 271, pi. 306 (1879) ; B. O. U. List 

 Br. B. p. 87 (1883); Saundtrs, Man. Br. B. p. 287 

 (1889) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Br. B. partxi. (1889), parts xxii. 

 and XXV. (1892-93). 



{Plate XXXVIII.) 

 Adult Male. — General colour above ashy-grey, with generally 

 a slight tinge of rufous, the feathers with dark longitudinal 

 centres and zigzag cross -lines, imparting a vermiculated ap- 

 pearance to the whole of the upper surface ; outer scapulars 

 with a large oval spot of white ; quills light brown, barred 

 with darker brown, the quills freckled with dusky at the tips, 

 and on the light ashy or rufescent bars which are seen on the 

 outer web ; tail brown, mottled with ashy spots and lines, the 

 outer feathers with dark brown bars, about six in number ; 

 head rather greyer than the back, considerably mottled with 

 white spots, especially on the hind-neck ; lores and feathers 

 round the eye whitish; ear-coverts ashy with dusky-brov>'n 

 bars ; tail-feathers profusely barred wnth white or buffy- white 

 and dusky-brown ; under surface of body ashy-white, with 



