382 



STRIX. SCREECH OWL. 



Bill short, moderately stout, compressed towards 

 the end, straight, with a curved tip : upper mandible 

 mobile to a great extent, the cere large, bare above and 

 towards the lower edges, feathered along the sides, the 

 dorsal outline nearly straight to beyond the nostrils, 

 then curved in the fourth of a circle, the ridge broad 

 at the base, narrower anteriorly, convex in its whole 

 extent, the sides sloping at the base, convex towards 

 the tip, the edges soft and obtuse as far as the nostrils, 

 being covered with skin continuous with that of the 

 palate, then sharp and hard to the end, below the nos- 

 trils inflected, afterwards direct, the tip acute and at 

 its extremity perpendicular; lower mandible straight, 

 its crura narrow and flexile, the angle elongated, nar- 

 rowly rounded, the short dorsal line slightly convex, 

 the back rather broad and convex, the sides convex, 

 but towards the base slightly concave, sloping outwards, 

 and cerate, the edges soft and meeting those of the up- 

 per, until near the end, where they are sharp and in- 

 flected, their outline decurved and sinuate, with two 

 shallow notches on each side, the tip rounded but nar- 

 row ; the gape-line slightly sinuous, being a little de- 

 curved at the two extremities, with a broad sinus about 

 the middle. 



Mouth very wide ; palate prominent, sloping upwards 



