Vol. XX 

 1903 



n Stone, Generic Names of North American O-vls. ^1 ^ 



These are all recognizable species except sca/idiaca -Sind fiuieira,' 

 which have been usually dropped out of consideration as com- 

 posite or doubtful. 



As already stated, Brisson in 1760 gave names to these two 

 groups, calling the eared owls Asio and restricting Sfrix to those 

 without ears. 



In 1799 Cuvier (Legons d' Anat. Comp., Tab. II) did precisely 

 the same thing, using the names Ofus d.nd Sfrix respectively; and 

 in 1S06 Dumeril (Zool. Analytique, p. 34) again named the eared 

 owls of Linnaeus, calling them Bubo. 



Hence we have three names coextensive and absolutely synony- 

 mous — Asio Brisson = Otus Cuvier = Bubo Dumeril ; and neither 

 of the latter can be revived for any part of the original group 

 included under Asio, i.e., the aieritiilatce of Linnaeus {cf. Allen, 

 discussion of the nomenclature of the genus Dicotyles, Bull. Am. 

 Mus. Nat. Hist., XVI, 1902, p. 162). This disposes absolutely 

 of Bubo, and I had supposed of Otus also, but Dr. Chas. W. 

 Richmond calls my attention to the fact that Pennant had used 

 the name Otus long before Cuvier, and upon looking up his 

 ' Indian Zoology,' 1790, p. 34, we find a plate and description of 

 " Otus bakkannvnaP The identity of this bird has been somewhat 

 in doubt, but the majority of writers have regarded it as the small 

 screech owl of Ceylon and it has been so accepted by Blanford 

 (Fauna of Brit. Ind., Ill, p. 297) and Sharpe (Hand List of Birds, 

 I, p. 286), though neither of them seem to have realized that in so 

 doing they were bound to adopt the generic name Otus for the 

 Screech Owls. 



The identification of Pennant's bird with the Barn Owl, which 

 has been proposed by some, cannot be upheld, as the description 

 and size are quite at variance with that species. This, moreover, 

 would make the Barn Owl the type of Otus and leave the Snowy 

 Owl as the type of Strix ! 



In the preface to Pennant's Indian Zoology of 1790 he states 

 that there was an earlier edition published by Forster in 1781, but 

 upon consulting this I find the bird under the name Strix 

 bakkannvfia. Both Sherburn and Blanford, however, quote a 

 still earlier 1769 edition, in which the name Otus is used, so that 

 we are apparently safe in accepting this as the date of the genus 



