lOO LLOYDS NATURAL HISTOrvY. 



THE WOOD-OWLS. GENUS SYRNIU^J. 



Syrniiim, Savign. Descr. de I'Egypte, 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 from 



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 iiifra^ 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. 



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



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



Yarr. Br. B. i. p. ij6 (1872). 

 Uhila alu.o, JMacg. Br. B. iii. p. 438(1840); Seeb. Br. B. i. 



p. 154 (1883). 

 Syr7iium aluco, Sharpe, 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). 



{.Plau 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 hght 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-brown 

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

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



