ACCIPITRES. ;i~< 



Strix, Savicjmj. 



The Screech Owls have the ear as large as in Otus, furnished with a 

 still larger operculum ; but the elongated bill is only curved near the end, 

 while in all the other subgenera it is arcuated from the point. They have 

 no horns; their tarsi are feathered, but they have only hairs on the toes. 

 The mask formed by the fringed feathers, which surround the eyes, has a 

 greater extent, and renders their physiognomy more singular than that of 

 any other nocturnal bird. 



The species common in France, Str. flammea, L. ; Enl. 440; 

 Frisch, xcvii. Naum. 47, 2, appears to be diffused over the whole 

 globe. The back is shaded with a fawn and an ash colour, or brown, 

 prettily picked in witli white points, each of which is inclosed by two 

 black ones ; the belly is sometimes white, sometimes fawn-coloured, 

 with or without brown spots. It builds in steeples, towers, &c., and 

 is particularly considered by the vulgar as a bird of ill omen*. 



Syrnium, Savigny. 



Have the mask and collerette of the preceding ; but their conch is reduced 

 to an oval cavity, which does not extend to half the height of the cranium ; 

 they have no tufts, and the feet are feathered down to the nails. 



Str. aluco and stridula, L. ; Chat-huant de la France, Hulotte 

 Chouette des hois, ^c; Enl. 441, 437 ; Frisch, xciv, xcv, xcvi ; Naum. 

 46 and 47, 1. Somewhat larger than the common owl; covered with 

 longitudinal brown spots, transversely denticulated on the sides ; white 

 spots on the scapulars, and towards the anterior edge of the wing. 

 The ground of the plumage in the male is greyish, in the female 

 reddish, from which circumstance they were considered, for a long 

 time, as two species-j". They build in the woods, frequently lay 

 their eggs in other birds' nests, and keep themselves in the hollows 

 of old trees J. 

 We reserve the name of 



Bubo, Cuv. 



Or Dues, for those species, which, with as small a conch as that of the 

 Syrnii, and the disk of feathers less strongly marked, are furnished with 

 tufts. Those which are known have large feet feathered to the nails ; 

 such is, 



Str. bubo; The Grand Due of naturalists; Enl. 434; Frisch, 

 xciii ; Naum. 44. The largest of the nocturnal birds ; fawn-colour- 

 ed, with a brown streak, and lateral points on each feather; the 



* Add Str. hadia, T. Col. 54.— N. B. The Chouette a queue fourchue du Bresil, Col. 

 432, does not appear to differ from the Str. flammea, except in the variation caused 

 by stuffing. 



f The Str. sylvestris, rufa, noctua alba of Scopoli, and the Str. soloniensis, which 

 Gmelin has intercalated in his system, are too undetemiined to be considered other 

 than varieties, and probably of the Syrnium. It is well to know that in the whole of 

 this genus the females are redder than the males — by not attending to this, the spe- 

 cies have been improperly multiplied. 



X Add the Sir. pagodanim, Tem. Col. 220. 



