STRIGID.E — THE OWLS. 



39 



Nyctale acadica. 



Genus NYCTALE, Brehm. 



Nyctale, Brehm, 1828. (Type, Strix tengmalmi, Gmel.) 



Gen. Char. Size small. Head very large, without ear-tufts. Eyes moderate ; iris 

 yellow. Two outer primaries only with their inner webs distinctly emargmated. Tarsi and 

 toes densely, but closely, feathered. 

 Ear-conch very large, nearly as 

 high as the skull, with an anterior 

 operculum ; the two ears exceed- 

 ingly asymmetrical, not only ex- 

 ternally, but in their osteological 

 structure. Furcula not anchylosed 

 posteriorly, but joined by a mem- 

 brane. 



Of this genus only three 

 species are as yet known ; 

 two of these belong to the 

 Northern Hemisphere, one of 

 them {N. tengmalmi) being 

 circumpolar, the other {N. 

 acadica) peculiar to North 

 America. The habitat of the 

 remaining species {N. harrisi) 

 is unknown, but is supposed to be South America. If it be really from that 

 portion of the New World, it was probably obtained in a mountainous region. 



Species and Races. 



Common Characters. Above umber, or chocolate, brown, spotted with white 

 (more or less uniform in the young) ; beneath white with longitudinal stripes of 

 reddish-brown (adult), or ochraceous without markings (young). 



A. Nostril sunken, elongate-oval, obliquely vertical, opening laterally ; cere 

 not inflated. Tail considerably more than half the wing. Bill yellow. 



1. N. tengmalmi. Wing, 7.20 ; tail, 4..50; culmen, .60; tarsus, 1.00; 

 middle toe, .07 (average). 



Legs white, almost, or quite, unspotted ; lower tail-coverts with 

 narrow shaft-streaks of brown. (Light tints generally predominat- 

 ing.) Hah. Northern portions of Patearctic Realm . var. tengmalmi} 



Legs ochraceous, thickly spotted with brown ; lower tail-coverts 

 with broad medial stripes of brown. (Dark tints generally pre- 

 dominating.) Hah. Northern portions of Nearctic Realm. 



var. richardsoni. 



1 Nyctale tengmalmi, var. tengmalmi. Sfrix tengmalmi, Gmel. S. N. p. 291, 1789 (et Auct. 

 var.). Nyctale t., Bonap. et Auct. Noctiia t., Cuv. et Auct. Athene t., Boie. Ulula t., 

 BoNAP. et Auct. ScotojMlus t.. Swains. Strix dasijptis, Bechst. (1791) et Auct. Nyctale d.. 

 Gray. Strix passerina, A. Meyer, 1794. — Pallas. Nyctale planiceps, Brehm, 1831. N. 

 pinetorum, Brehm, 1831. N. abietum, Brehm, 1831. N. funerea, Bonap. 1842 (not of 

 Linn., 1761, which is Surnia ulida). " N. kirtlandi," Elliot, Ibis, H, Jan., 1872, p. 48 (not 

 of Hoy !). 



