7S Bicait Literature. 



Owls {Strig^s) are all roforred to the family BuhoniJcr, exfept tlie genera 

 5^n".r and Phodilus, which alone constitute the fiiniily Strigidit. 



Mr. Shsirpe gives the nuuibex of species of the Diurnal Birds of Prey as 

 thive hundivd and seventy-seven, of which twenty-there are i-egjirvled as 

 doubtful. Of the remainder three hundred and tweuty-tive are repre- 

 sented in the collection of the British Museum, the tot;U number of 

 specimens fjUling little short of twenty-five hundred. 



Respecting the North American species, it may be noted that our com- 

 mon Rough-legged Hawk is considered as specifically distinct from the 

 European, the two bearing the ntunes rt?speotiveJy of Archibutfo sanctijo- 

 hanuis and A. lagopus. The Grolden Ej^gles (Aquila chn/saetus), the Pei^e- 

 grine Falcons {Falco communis), and the Fish-Hawks {Paudion haliaetus), 

 on the other hand, are regivrvled as identical. The generic term Carhneis 

 (Boie, 1S26) is adoptevi for the Spai-row- Hawks, of which several of Mr. 

 Ridgwt\y"s vtirieties are raised to the rank of species. 



Of the Owls, alwut one hundi-ed and ninety species are recognized, of 

 which ten ai-e regaixleii as doubtful. They are representeil in the British 

 Museum by about eleven huudre^l specimens. The Snowy Owl {Xyctea 

 sciindiaca) of Nonh AmericiV, contrary to the opinion of some AmericiUi 

 writers, is held to be identical witli that of Europe, the two being con- 

 sidered as not separable even as races, Mr. Sharpe being unable to appre- 

 ciate any diflferences of color, but admitting a slight ditfei-ence in the amount 

 of feathering of the toes. The Long-eai-eii Owls (for which the generic 

 mune -4sk\ Brisson, 1766, is adopted) of America and Emvpe he admits 

 as subspecies of a circumpolar " Asio otus." The nearly cosmopolite 

 Short-eared Owl (called " Asio accipitrimts ") he divides into several races 

 or sul^species, of which the American (its habitat including both North 

 and South America) forms "/3. Asio cassiui.'^ Richanison's Owl is re- 

 garvled as identical with the European Tengmalm's Owl {Xuctali imitmal- 

 mi). Of the Barn-Owls (SfriJ- Jiammfa), while i"ecognizing a number of 

 '' striking foi'ms," he says : " My conclusion with reganl to the Rirn Owls 

 is, that there is one dominant type which prevails generally over the con- 

 tinents of the Old and New Worlds, being darker or lighter according 

 to different localities, but possessing no distinctive specific characters. 

 Insuhvr birvls vary, but cannot l>e specifically distinguished, as they can 

 always be appn">aclied by continental specimens in a large series." 



In the thiivl volume Mr. Sharpe enters upon the great series of Passerine 

 Binis, of which he here treats the fjimilies Corvidce^ Paradis<:id(e, Oriolidcr, 

 Dicruridar, and Prionopidir, which he unites to form the group Coliomor- 

 phcr, equal to the Coliomorphir of Sundevall, with some genera addeti and 

 others excluded. The sjiecies here descril>etl by Mr. Sh;vri>e number thr^e 

 huudred and sixty-seven, jUI but aKnit fifty of which are repivsenteil in 

 the British Museum, the number of sivcimens being a little over two 

 thousand. Of these four families the Corn"<f<r, or Cwws and Jays, ai« 

 alone represented in America, the others being mdnly African, Indian, and 



