168 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



glaciers. During the ensuing age, as the ice disappeared north- 

 ward, the four groups. Class B, accompanied or closely followed 

 it, and to-day they are at home in the Arctic regions. One or 

 two species in some of the other genera have also become adapted 

 to a boreal life. 



Although the two genera. Class C, are peculiar to this hemis- 

 phere, yet they are only slightly differentiated, — the burrowing 

 owls (Spcotyto). from the Athene group of the Old World, and 

 the tiny elf owls (Micropallas) , from the pygmy owls — the cos- 

 mopolitan Glaucidiiiiii. 



As intrusive Strigine elements from the Southeast and South- 

 west, the Florida and western burrowing owls are of exceptional 

 interest. No owls seem, even accidentally, to have entered this 

 Region by way of Greenland, as birds occasionally do ; although 

 the snowy owl has been caught alive seven hundred miles out 

 at sea, and both the American hawk owl and the screech owl are 

 recorded from England. The only Old World forms which are 

 known to have entered the Xearctic Region during historical 

 times, are the lapp owl and the hawk owl, both being accidental 

 visitors to Alaska. 



Having thus briefly reviewed the North American owls as a 

 whole, we shall consider each group more in detail. 



In the New York Zoological Park there have been on exhibition 

 nine out of the twelve genera of Nearctic Owls, no living speci- 

 mens of the great gray, American hawk or elf owls having as yet 

 been obtained. 



GROUP I. BARN OWXS, Stl'ix. 



The single genus of the Barn Owls is set apart from all others 

 by differences in structure and appearance sufficient to be desig- 

 nated as a separate family. 



The American Barn Owl, Strix pratiiicola Bonap., is the 

 sole representative of this genus in North America. Since its iso- 

 lation from the European Barn Owl, it has increased considerably 

 in size and is lighter in color. 



Of all the owls these are the most peculiar looking, as the 

 common name of "monkey-faced owl" suggests. In color they are 

 very beautiful, with gray and golden-buff upper parts, speckled 

 finely with black and white. Beneath they are white or buff, 

 sprinkled with roimd dots. The face is white and the heart-shaped 

 facial disk is yellowish-brown. "Golden Owl" is an excellent name 

 for this bird. 



