22G 



Otus, Cuv. 



Tlie Horned Owls, or those wliicli have two tufts of feathers on the 

 forehead, which they can erect at pleasure ; the conch of whose ear ex- 

 tends in a semicircle from the bill to the top of the head, and is fur- 

 nished in front with a membranous operculum. Their feet are feathered 

 down to the nails. Such in Europe are the 



Str. ascalaphus, Savig. Eg. Brit. Zool. tab. B. 3. (The Great 

 Horned Owl), with short tufts. A fourth larger than the common 

 one, and like it, fulvous spotted with brown, and verraiculated on the 

 wings and back; but the belly transversely striped with narrow lines, 

 and the crests or tufts very short. It properly belongs to Africa, 

 but is sometimes seen in Europe*. 



Str. otus, L. ; Moyen Due, Buff.; Frisch, xcix; Brit. Zool. 

 tab. B. iv. f. 1; Naum. 45, 1. (The Common Owl). Fawn-colour- 

 ed, with longitudinal brown spots on the body and underneath ; wings 

 and back vermiculated with brown; horns half the length of the 

 head; eight or nine bands on the tail. 



Str. ulula and Str. hrachyotos, Gm. ; La Chouette, or Moyen Due 

 (i huppes courtes, Enl. 438; Frisch, c; Naum. 45, 2; Brit. Zool. 

 tab. B. iv. f. 2; Wils. IV. xxxiii. 3. As to colouring, nearly simi- 

 lar to the preceding; back not reticulated, but narrow longitudinal 

 lines on the belly, and four or five brown bands on the tail. The 

 tufts or horns are only found on the male, and are so small and so 

 seldom erected, that they have scarcely ever been remarked, and this 

 bird was for a long time left among the species without tufts, and 

 even formed two species. Found almost everywhere^. 

 We may reserve the name of 



Ulula, Cuv. 



Or the Howlers, for those species which have the bill and ears of the 

 Otus, but not the horns. There are none of these to be found in France 

 but they are to be found in the north of both continents, viz. 



Str. laponiea, Gm. (The Great Grey Owlet of Lapland). Al- 

 most as large as the Grand Due of France ; above, grey and brown 

 mixed, whitish; longitudinal brown grey spots beneath. Inhabits 

 the mountains in the north of SwedenJ. 



* Witness the one represented in Brit. Zool., whose figure has so much embar- 

 rassed the naturalists. 



t Add the American Owl {Str. mexicana), Gm., or Str. clamator, Vieill. Am. 20, or 

 Str. longirostris, Spix, IX, which only differs from our Ccmmon Owl in the greater 

 blackness of the spots. — The Hibou tachete du Cap {Sir. africana, '!.), Col. 56, or 

 Str. maculosa, Vieill. Gal. 23. — The Hibou a gros bee {Str. macrorhynchos, T.), Col. 62. 

 — The Hibou a joues blanches {Str. leucotis,T.), Col. 6. — The Yellow-cheeked Owl 

 (5/r. 0/?«),Wils. VI. li. 3, differs from the Otus of Europe.— The Spotted Owl of 

 America {Str. navia, Lath.), Wils. III. xix. 1, of which the Str. asio; Id. IV. xlii. 1, 

 is probably the young bird, or the female. — The Rabbit Owl {Str. cunicularia, Ch. 

 Bonap.), Am. I. vii. 2. 



X Add the Chouette grise du Canada {Str. nebulosa, Gm.), Vieill. 17, Wils. IV. 

 xxxiii. 2. 



