345 



SYRNIA. HAWK-OWL. 



Bill short, strong, compressed towards the end, with 

 the tip curved : upper mandible with the cere short, the 

 dorsal outline curved from the base, the ridge broad 

 and slightly convex, narrowed towards the end, the 

 sides anteriorly convex, the edges soft and obtuse at 

 the base, sharp and hard towards the end, the tip acute, 

 nearly perpendicular ; lower mandible straight, its crura 

 short, the angle broad and rounded, the short dorsal 

 line convex, the back broad and convex, the edges soft 

 and meeting those of the upper until near the end, 

 where they are sharp and inflected, their outline de- 

 curved and with a shallow sinus on each side close to 

 the rounded tip ; the gape-line nearly straight as far as 

 the curvature of the tip. 



Mouth wide. Nostrils in the fore part of the cere, 

 roundish. Eyes very large ; eyelids without distinct 

 ciliary fringes, and with broad thin margins. Aper- 

 ture of the ear large, oval, in the lower part of an el- 

 liptical concha, having all round a slightly elevated 

 margin beset with feathers. 



Head large, broad and rounded, antei'iorly narrowed, 

 but less so than in the other genera ; neck short ; body 

 deeper than broad, much compressed behind. Legs 



Gg 



