194 BIRDS. RAI-ACKS. 



F. Cay anemia, Lath. Legs bluish; body blackish ash-coloured., white 

 below ; head and neck bluish white ; tail banded with black and 

 white; iris yellow ; primaries black. Size of the peregrine falcon. 

 Inhabits Cayenne. Lath. Ind. 28. 



Gen. 6. STRIX, Lin. 



Bill compressed, bent from its origin ; base surrounded by a 

 cere, covered wholly or in part by stiff hairs. Head large, 

 much feathered ; nostrils lateral, pierced in the anterior mar- 

 gin of the cere, rounded, open, concealed by hairs directed 

 forwards ; eyes very large, orbits surrounded by feathers ; 

 legs feathered, often to the claws ; three toes before and one 

 behind, separate, the exterior reversible ; the first wing-feathers 

 dentated on their exterior border, the third the longest. 



The greater number of the species of this genus are nocturnal birds of prey, al- 

 though some of them are capable of seeking their food by day. All have soft and 

 downy feathers, which enable them to fly without noise. They seize their prey 

 with their claws, and do not feed on dead animals but when pressed by hunger. The 

 hair, the feathers, and the bones of the animals they feed upon are rejected after di- 

 gestion in little balls. They moult once a year. Temminck names those which 

 seek their prey by day Accipitrine owls, and distinguishes them by their large tail 

 extending beyond the termination of the wings ; and the nocturnal species by their 

 tail being shorter and more rounded. But these divisions are not well marked, and 

 it has therefore been thought better to arrange them by their having or wanting the 

 auricular feathers. Although none of the nocturnal birds of prey are materially hurt- 

 ful to mankind, and although they are instrumental in the destruction of vermin, 

 yet in almost every age and country they have been regarded by the vulgar as 

 creatures of evil omen ; and the heralds of death. 



t Horned Owls. 



S. bubo, Lin. Great-horned Owl. Body variegated and waved 

 with black and ochre colour ; inferior parts of this last colour 

 with longitudinal black spots ; throat white ; two tufts of feathers 

 on the forehead ; legs covered to the toes with feathers of a red- 

 dish yellow ; bill and claws horn-coloured ; iris bright orange. 

 Two feet long. Inhabits Europe. B. Shaw, vii. pi. 28. 

 This species seldom perches on trees ; but haunts mountainous, rocky, and deso- 

 late situations, as deserted towers, precipices, and lonely crags, and feeds on partrid- 

 ges, leverets, young rabbits, moles, mice, serpents, lizards, toads, frogs, and even 

 bats. A variety of the present species was venerated by the Athenians as the sa- 

 cred bird of Minerva, and the emblem of wisdom. 



S. otus, Lin. Long-eared Owl. Plumage yellow ferruginous, with 

 black and gray variegations ; horns consisting often feathers, bor- 

 dered with whitish yellow ; lower parts of an ochre yellow, with 

 oblong blackish brown spots ; bill black ; iris reddish. One foot 

 13 inches long. Inhabits both continents Selby, Illust. pi. 20. 



S. scops, Lin. Scops Eared Owl. Plumage gray brown, with black- 

 ish variegations above, and gray, speckled with black and red- 

 dish brown, beneath ; horns formed of little feathers united in a 

 tuft ; transverse bands, crossed by longitudinal ones on the cen- 

 tre of the feathers ; bill black ; iris yellow. Seven inches long. 

 Europe. Selby, Illust. pi. 22. 



