1894. PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 561 



Genus M I C R O P A L L A S . 



Unfortunately, I Lave only had tiieo])portunity to examine one speci- 

 men of tliis very interesting' genus of little owls, but Mr. Lucas and 

 Mr. Ridgway have very kindly examined the skins of botli M. ichitneyi 

 and M. graysoni in the National Museum, and liave thereby confirmed 

 its chief peculiarity, namely, the presence of only ten rectrices. Indeed, 

 the specimen which I examined had only nine, but there is a possibility 

 that one had been lost accidentally. The jmrnaries had been cut, and 

 so their formula can not be given, but there were only 13 secondaries. 

 In the general pterylosis this genus differs from Asio accipitrinus 

 (tigs. 9 and 10) in the uniform feathering of the head above and below, 

 except the naked s^iace over the eye; in the narrowness and weakness 

 of all the tracts, but especially the femoral ; and in the somewhat less 

 complete feathering of the toes, where the feathers are very hair like. 

 The dorsal tract and tjie posterior end of the cervical were not easy to 

 make out, but seemed to be like Af>io. In fresh specimens, however, 

 I should expect to find the cervical tract scarcely forked and the dor- 

 sal extending forward so as to almost meet it, as in Glaucidium. 



Specimen exa mi tied . 



No. 



Name. I Collection. Condition. 



Micropalla.s whitney i U.S. Nat. Mus Alcoholic. 



Genus 8 P i: O T Y T O . 



Although this genus shows some modification of the typical Strigine 

 pterylosis, it did not seem necessary to publish a figure, as one has 

 already appeared with a full account of these differences in the Journal 

 of ^Morphology for June, 1889, by Dr. Shufeldt. All the specimens 

 which I have examined agree with the description there given, 

 although really the width of the tracts is not so especially noteworthy 

 when compared with our other owls as in comi)arisoii with the figures 

 of Nitzsch. Indeed, I have not noticed in any of the owls which I have 

 examined the extreme narrowness of the tracts to which Nitzsch called 

 attention, although they may be narrower than those of the hawks and 

 some other birds. The chief peculiarity of Speofi/to lies in the uniform 

 feathering of the whole head, more complete than in any other owl I 

 have seen. This was especially clear in the young bird from the 

 National Museum, where the sides of the head were more fully clothed 

 than in the adults. The lateral neck spaces are broad and do not reach 

 quite to the ear, as in other owls, but permit, instead, a slight union 

 of the upper and lower cervical tracts on the sides of the head. In all 

 other respects Speoiyto agrees with Asio^ except that the tarsus is only 

 feathered to the base of the toes, and that only in front. The eleven 

 primaries rank as follows in length: 9 = 8, 7, 6 = 10, 5, 4, 3, 2, ], 11. 

 Proc. N. M. 94 36 



