BUBONID^ SYRNIUM 



245 



This little Owl seems to breed all the year round. Ayres found 

 a nest in Natal in June, Eriksson in the north-west Transvaal in 

 March, and Andersson in September, October, and November in 

 Damaraland. It often adopts the nest of some other bird ; one 

 found by Andersson was in a hollow in one of the mass of nests 

 constructed by the Buffalo Weaver Bird {Textor erythrorhynchus). 

 When it builds its own nest it makes a structure of a few sticks put 

 together so loosely that the eggs can be seen through from below. 

 These are pure white, two or three in number, very broad and 

 rounded equally at both ends. Mr. Millar writes that this Owl has 

 nested in his garden for several years, building its own edifice, but 

 apparently not difficult to please, as its architecture is of the crudest, 

 the nest consisting of a few leaves placed in the centre of a large 

 tree where three boughs branch out about twelve feet above the 

 ground. Two eggs sent by Mr. Millar to the South African Museum 

 are smooth, white, somewhat rounded ovals, measuring 1-6 x 1*3. 



Genus II. SYRNIUM. 



Type. 

 Syrnium, Savigny, Dcscr. Egypte, Ois. pp. 9, 51 (1810)... S. aluco. 



Bill moderate, cere not swollen, nostrils oval at the margin of 

 the cere ; facial disc not so well defined as in Asio, but extending 

 equally above and below the eye ; no ear tufts ; ear opening with 

 an operculum; wing somewhat rounded, extending nearly to the 

 tip of the tail, which is more than half the length of the wing ; 

 tarsi feathered to the base of the toes, which (in the South African 

 species), are covered only by a few bristles ; irides always brown. 



This genus is found over the greater part of the world except 

 the Australian region and Madagascar. There are only two African 

 species, one of which is found in South Africa. 



495. Syrnium woodfordi. Woodford's Oivl. 



Noctua woodfordi, Smith, S. Afr. Quart. Journ. ii, p. 312 (1834). 

 Athene woodfordi, Smith, Illusir. Zool. S. Afr. Aves, pi. 71 (1842) ; 



Gurneij, Ibis, 1859, p. 242, 1862, p. 37 [Natal] . 

 Strix woodfordi, Grill, K. Vet. ATiad. Handl. ii, no. 10, p. 47 (1858) 



[Knysna] . 

 Syrnium woodfordi, Layard, B. S. Afr. p. 42 (1867) ; Sharpe, ed. 



Layard'n B. S. Afr. pp. 76, 801 (1875-84) ; id. Cat. B. M. ii, p. 267 



