2)^8 BIRDS. 



brown predominates above ; fawn- coloured underneath ; tufts almost 

 entirely black*. 



The Tufted Chouetes, Fail. Jfr. xliii. 



Are mere Dues, whose tufts, more widely separate and placed farther back, 

 can scarcely be elevated above a horizontal line. They are found in both 

 hemispheres-}-. 



NocTUA, Savigny. 



Have neither tufts, nor an open nor deeply set conch of the ear; open- 

 ing of the ear oval, and hardly any larger than in other birds ; the disk of 

 fringed feathers is smaller, and less perfect than in the Bubo, Cuv. 

 Their relations to the diurnal birds of prey are very evident, even in their 

 habits. 



Some of them are remarkable for a long, cuneiform tail, and have the 

 toes thickly clothed with feathers; they are the Surnia, Dumer. It ap- 

 pears that there exist in all the North some closely allied species or va- 

 rieties, but improperly distinguished under the names of Str. funerea, 

 hudsonia, uralensis, accipitrina, &c. 



The best known species, Str. nisoria, Wolf.; Enl. 473; Naum. 

 42, 2, from the whole north of the globe, is about the size of the 

 Sparrowhawk ; blackish brown above, with small white spots on the 

 head, which form transverse bars on the scapulars ; transversely ra- 

 diated with brown and white beneath, with ten transverse white lines 

 on the tail. It hunts more during the day than the night. 



The species from the Ural mountains, Sir. uralensis. Pall. 

 Naum. 42, 1, is nearly as large as the Harfang; brown, with white 

 spots, above; white, with long brown spots, beneath; five trans- 

 verse grey bands on the tail. It also hunts during the day, and is 

 sometimes seen in Germany. It is probably the Hybris or Ptynx 

 of Aristotle, 1. ix, c. 12. 



The species, called of Acadia, Str. acadica, Naum. 43, f. 1 and 

 2; Wils. Am. IV. xxxiv. 1, is also sometimes found there, but it 

 belongs equally to the whole north of the globe. It is the smallest 

 of the Ululfe, and is hardly larger than the common finch. It does 

 not fear the light of day; but Vaillant has described one of these 

 Surniae from Africa, (Choucou, No. xxxviii,) all white beneath, with 

 fourteen or fifteen lines on the tail, and which, according to his ac- 

 count, is more nocturnal than the other Ululs. 

 There are other Noctuae which have a short tail and feathered toes. 

 The largest, and in fact the largest of all the nocturnal birds without 

 tufts, is 



* We cannot admit the Str. scandiaca, L., whose only foundation is a figure of 

 Rudbeck, probably taken from a variety of the Grand Due. Add Str. magellaiika, 

 Enl. 585, from which the Sir. virginiana, Daud. II. 13, and Wils. Am. VI. 1, 1, or 

 Str. pinicola, Vieill. Am. 19, only differs in being of a more reddish tint. — Str. lactea, 

 T. Col. 4. 



t Str. griseata, Sh. ; Vaill. Afr. 43, of Guiana.— 5^r. strepitaiis, T. CoL 174 and 229 

 nf Batavia («). 



g^ (a) Add Sir, cinerea, Gm., Bonap. Am. Orn. pi, xxiii, f. 2. — Eng. Ed. 



