8 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Strix nebulosa alleni, Ritlgw. 



Ch.— Similar to typical nebulosa, but toes wholly destitute of feathers or bristles, 

 oeing perfectly bare to the extreme base ; colors darker than in nebulosa, with less 

 ochraceous, the tail scarcely barred on the basal half, and the bars ou the breast much 

 more distinct, as well as narrower and more continuous. 



Hab. — Florida (Clearwater). 



The above characters I find to be constant in a series of three speci- 

 mens (two ^ and one 9 ) sent to the National Museum by Col. S. T. 

 Walker, of Clearwater, Florida. Not only are the toes perfectly bare, 

 but the feathers clothing the tarsi are much shorter than in northern 

 nebulosa, thus causing the legs to appear much more slender. The only 

 featheriug on the toes consists of a small pointed strip on the outer side 

 of the first phalanx of the middle toe, reaching about to the second joint. 



324. Strix occidentalis (Xant.) Ridgw. 



Assuming that the Great Grey Owls are sufficiently distinct generic- 

 ally from the foregoing, they should be known as— 



322. SCOTIAPTEX cinereum (Gmel.) Swains., and 

 [322 «. I ScoTiAPTEX cinereum lapponicum (Eetz.) Eidgw 



236. iSurnia ulula funeeea (Linn.) Rich. & Sw. — In the 10th edition 

 of ^^Systema Naturae''^ Linnseus describes on the same page (93) Strix 

 funerea and S. ulula, in the order here given; the former being based on 

 "Fn. suec. 51," the ^'- ulula fiammeata, Frisch. av. t. 9" being doubtfully 

 quoted; "Habitat in Europa." 8. ulula is based upon "Fn. suec. 

 52— Ulula, Gesu. av. 773, Aldr. ornith, 1. 8, c. 6; Will, ornith. 68, t. 13, 

 Ray. av. 26, n. 4 ; " the habitat also " in Europa." In neither case would 

 the diagnoses given determine the species independent of the references. 

 In the 12th edition, however, S. ulula is mentioned first, with the same 

 diagnosis and habitat, but with additional or more explicit references. 

 8. funerea follows, with an additional diagnosis which renders the species 

 unmistakable, and a reference to "/Sfrij? canadensis," Briss. av. I, p. 518, 

 t. 37, f. 2, which we know to be the American Hawk Owl. Furthermore, 

 there is added to the habitat "America septentrionaliP It is therefore 

 diflicult to decide which of the two names has priority as the specific 

 designation. If the >S'. funerea is to be regarded the same in both edi- 

 tions, then this name, as occurring first on the page, would be entitled to 

 that claim ; but there is nothing whatever in the account of Strix funerea 

 of edition 10 to show that it is anything more than the European Hawk 

 Owl ; or, in other words, the same as the species called on the same page 

 8. ulula. As the matter stands, we prefer to take/tr/ierect of 1766 as the 

 earliest date of the name as applied to the American bird, and to call the 

 species 8. ulula, the latter name being of certain application in the 10th 

 edition, while it precedes /Mwerm in the 12th. 



347. Falco fusco-c^rulescens, Vieill.— See Sharpe, " Catalogue of 

 the Accipitres in the British Museum," I, p. 400. 



