48 STRIGID.E. 



Hab. Brazil and N. Argentina. 



White obtained a single specimen of this Parrot in the dense forests 

 of the Rio Vermejo, near Oran, in November 1880. 



Order VI. STEIGES. 



About 40 different species of the nocturnal birds of prey are known 

 to occur in the Neotropical Region. Six of them have been recorded 

 as being found more or less frequently within the limits of the Argentine 

 Republic. Of these, the Burrowing-Owl (PTioleoptynx cunicularia) 

 is one of the most characteristic inhabitants of the Argentine Pampas, 

 while two others, the Barn-Owl and the Short-eared Owl, are very 

 widely diffused species, also well known in England. 



Fam. XXX. STRIGID.E, OR BARN-OWLS. 

 286. STRIX FLAMMEA, Linn. 



(COMMON BARN-OWL.) 



Strix flammea, Scl et Salv. Nomencl. p. 116 ; Durnford, Ibis, 1877, p. 187 

 (Buenos Ayres) ; White, P. Z. S. 1882, p. 622 (Misiones) ; Wellington, Ibis, 

 1888, p. 468 (Lomas de Zamora) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. ii. p. 291. Aluco 

 flammeus, Barrows, Auk, 1884, p. 29 (Entrerios). Strix perlata, Sunn. 

 La-Plata Reise, ii. p. 440 ; Daring, Exp. al Rio Negro, p. 49. 



Description. Above orange-brown, marbled with ashy and white, and dotted 

 with black spots with central white points ; wings and tail crossed by four or 

 five blackish bands ; face silvery white, with a posterior and inferior border 

 of orange-brown and black : beneath white, more or less suifused with tawny, 

 except on the lower belly, and dotted with distinct rounded black spots ; bill 

 yellowish ; tarsus feathered ; toes slightly bristled ; claws long and sharp : 

 whole length 15'0 inches, wing 12'5, tail 5'0. Female similar. 



Hab. Old and New Worlds. 



This widely distributed species is found throughout South America ; 

 and in its habits and sepulchral voice, as well as in its pretty reddish 

 buff, grey, and white plumage, is identical with the European bird. 

 D'Orbigny expressed astonishment that this Owl, which is never seen 

 in uninhabited places, invariably appears to keep company with man 

 wherever a settlement is formed, even in the most lonely and isolated 

 spots. Probably it is much more numerous than most people imagine, 



