104 RAPTORES. NOCTUA. 



plumage spotted, and marked with umber-brown, black, 

 and ash-grey, upon a ground of wood-brown colour. 

 Scapulars and wing-coverts, with large white spots, form- 

 ing indistinct rows. Under parts yellowish-white, with 

 transverse bars of reddish -brown ; the shafts of the fea- 

 thers being dark umber-brown. Quills buff-orange, 

 barred with brown. The fourth quill-feather the long- 

 est. First four quills having their inner webs emargi- 

 nated ; and, as far as the sixth, with their outer webs 

 sinuated. Wings, when closed, not reaching to the end 

 of the tail by two inches. Tail barred alternately with 

 wood and umber browns, except the middle feathers, 

 which are plain wood-brown. Legs thickly clothed 

 with downy feathers, of an ash-grey colour, speckled 

 with brown. Claws long and sharp, greyish-black. 

 The males have the ground colour of the plumage much 

 redder; and scarcely two individuals can be found pre- 

 cisely ^similar in the markings. 



GENUS NOCTUA, Cur. NIGHT-OWL. 



GENERIC CHARACTERS. 



Bill bending from the base, much curved. Cere short ; 

 nostrils oval, placed in the anterior part of the cere. Audi- 

 tory conch large, with a narrow operculum. Facial disk 

 complete. Wings of mean length, ample and rounded ; the 

 third and fourth quills nearly equal, and the longest in the 

 wing. Inner webs of the first primaries notched. Tail 

 slightly rounded, and longer than the closed wings. Legs 

 having the tarsi and toes more or less feathered. Claws mo- 

 derately incurved ; the inner and middle one grooved be- 

 neath ; the outer and hind claws nearly cylindrical. Gene- 

 ral plumage very soft and downy ; the barbs of the feathers 

 open and very fine. 



