BIRDS — RYENINAE — SYRNIUM. 



55 



Ear tufts very short. Entire plumage buff or pale fulvous ; every feather on the upper parts with a wide longitudinal stripe 

 of dark brown, which color predominates on the back. Under parts paler, frequently nearly white on the abdomen, with 

 longitudinal stripes of brownish black most numerous on the breast ; very narrow and less numerous on the abdomen and flanks ; 

 legs and toes usually of a deeper shade of the same color as the abdomen. Quills pale reddish fulvous at their bases; brown at 

 their ends, with wide irregular bands and large spots of reddish fulvous ; tail pale reddish fulvous, with about five irregular 

 transverse bands of dark brown, which color predominates on the two central feathers ; under tail coverts usually nearly white. 

 Throat white ; eyes enclosed by large spots of brownish black ; ear tufts brown, edged with fulvous ; bill and claws dark ; irides 

 yellow. 



Total length, female, about 15 inches ; wing, 12 ; tail 6 inches. Male, rather smaller. 



Hab. — The whole of temperate North America, Greenland, (Hollboll,) Cuba, (Lembeye.) Spec, in Nat. Mus., Washington, 

 and Mus. Acad., Philadelphia. 



This owl is of frequent occurrence in the Atlantic States, especially in the winter ; and at 

 that season appears to prefer meadows and' marshes in the vicinity of rivers, or other streams 

 of water. In the present collection the specimens tend to demonstrate that it is equally 

 abundant on the Pacific, and we detect no differences in specimens from the opposite coasts of 

 our continent. 



List of specimens. 



Sub-Family SYRNINAE.— T h e Gray Owls. 



Head large, with very small and concealed ear tufts, or entirely without. Facial disc nearly 

 perfect ; eyes small for the family of owls ; wings rather short, or not so long as in the pre- 

 ceding ; tarsi and toes generally fully feathered. This group contains some of the largest of 

 owls ; generally, however, the size is medium, and frequently small. 



SYRNIUM, Savigny. 



Symium, Savignt, Nat. Hist. Egypt, I, p. 119, (1809.) 



Size usually large ; head large, without ear tufts ; eyes rather small ; facial disc somewhat imperfect in front. Bill strong, 

 curved from its base ; wings moderate, somewhat rounded ; fourth and fifth tiuills longest ; tail rather long, wide, and usually 

 rounded at the end ; legs moderate, or rather long, which, with the toes, are densely covered with short feathers ; claws long, 

 strong, very sharp. 



Species of this genus inhahit principally the northern parts of the world, and are generally 

 characterized by the prevalence of gray or cinereous of various shades in their plumage. 



