400 CORACIIFORMES chap. 



Syrnium cinereum, one of the largest members of the Family, 

 is thirty inches long, though Buho possesses species tliat are 

 perhaps more powerful ; on the other hand, Micrathene whitneyi 

 and Glavxidium cobanense measure about five inches. Omitting 

 the white or yellowish-white forms, the coloration of Owls may 

 be stated to bo a mixture of black, brown, rufous, grey, yellow, 

 and white, while barring is frequent on the wings and tail. The 

 pattern is always difficult to describe, nor can more than an in- 

 dication of it be given in the space available below. Permanent 

 rusty-red and grey phases occur in many species, or more rarely 

 a brown phase ; such species as exhibit two of these being termed 

 dimorphic, though dichromatic would better express the meaning. 

 The bill is blackish, dusky, or yellowish. The moult in the 

 Strigidae appears to be very gradual. 



Owls are an exceptionally cosmopolitan group of birds, a large 

 proportion of the genera being common to both hemispheres ; 

 Ketupa, ScotojJelia, Ninox, Hcteroglaux, Sceloglaux, Carine, Photo- 

 dilus and Heliodilus are, however, peculiar to the Old World, 

 S-peotyto, Gymnasio and Micrathene to the New. The Short-eared 

 Owl {Asio accipitrinus) is found at various seasons throughout 

 the globe, except, it would seem, in West Africa, Australia, tlie 

 Moluccas, Papuasia, and Oceania ; it occurs even in the Sand- 

 wich, Galapagos, and Falkland Islands. The Screech-Owl {Strix 

 fiammea) has an even wider range, but is not met with in 

 Norway, the north of North America, or New Zealand. Authorities 

 differ as to the genera and species to be recognised, but certainly 

 many more of the latter are now known than the one hundred 

 and ninety at which Dr. harpe put the total in 1875.^ 



The members of this Family frequent districts of the most 

 varied description, whether they be wooded highlands, rocky 

 ravines, or cultivated lowlands ; the Snowy Owl (JVyctea scandiaca) 

 nests chiefly on the fjelds and barren lands towards the North 

 Pole ; while the Burrowing Owl {Speotyto cunicularia), which is 

 equally at home on the sandy plains of North or South America, is 

 exceptional as an instance of gregarious habits in the group. The 

 majority, being nocturnal, are ill at ease in sunlight, a fact which 

 may explain the apparent discrepancy between their habitual 

 shyness and their bold conduct at the nest or when wounded; 

 many are then positively dangerous, and prove worse adversaries 



^ Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. ii. 1S75, p. vii. 



