ALUCONIDA: BARN OWLS. 001 
be called Aluconide, instead of Strigide ; which latter name is to be applied to the succeeding 
family. 
160. ALU/CO. (Ital. alocho, some kind of owl. Figs. 47,351.) Barn Owts. To above characters 
add: Wings very long, pointed, folding beyond the tail, the 1st or 2d primary longest, and none 
emarginate. Tail short, nearly even or emarginate, about 4 as long as the wing. Tarsus nearly 
twice as long as middle tve without claw, closely feathered, the plumage becoming scant and 
FiG, 351. — Barn Owls, 4 nat. size. (From Brelm.) 
‘* From yonder ivy-mantled tower, 
The moping owl does to the moon complain 
Of such, as wand’ring near her secret bower, 
Molest her ancient solitary reign.’ — GRAY. 
bristly below, like that on the nearly naked toes, and reversed in direction on the posterior 
aspect ; claws extremely long and acute (see fig. 47). Bill lengthened, compressed, the cere 
nearly as long as the rest of the culmen; nostrils oval; no plumicorns ; eyes comparatively 
small, black ; bill light-colored; plumage flagrant, not dichromatic; size medium. One North 
Am. species. 
