364 



ALUCO. WOOD-OWL. 



Bill short, strong, compressed towards tlie end, with 

 the tip curved : upper mandible mobile, with the cere 

 long and tumid behind the nostrils, the dorsal outline 

 curved from the base, the ridge broad at the base, nar- 

 row anteriorly, the sides rapidly sloping, convex to- 

 wards the end, 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, 

 tiie angle broad and rounded, the short dorsal line con- 

 vex, 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 anteriorly 

 decurved, with a sinus close to the truncato-rotundate 

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

 ture of the tip. 



Mouth very wide; palate flat, with a central and two 

 lateral prominent soft lines, converging forwards ; up- 

 per mandible soft within until near the tip, and having 

 an elevated central line with soft tubercles ; lower 

 deeply concave, v/ith a distinct central ridge ; the aper- 

 ture of the posterior nares oblong behind, anteriorly 

 linear, the edges without papillae, its sides covered to 

 a great extent with small papillae directed backwards. 



